The Land Of Prester John A Chronicle Of Portuguese Exploration

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I Kings x:22

THE LAND OF THE GREAT IMAGE

Being Experiences of Friar Manrique in Arakan

by Maurice Collis

"I found that I could not put it down I recommend it to
all readers who, sharing my state of mind, might welcome
a journey into a strange pocket of history/'

CLIFTON FADIMAN in the New Yorker

CARDINAL OF SPAIN
The Life and Strange Career of Alberoni

by Simon Harcourt-Smith

THE LAND OF PRESTER JOHN

A Chronicle of Portuguese Exploration

by Elaine Sanceau

THESE ARE BORZOI BOOKS, PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF

The Land of Prester John

THE LAND OF

Prester
John

A Chronicle of Portuguese
Exploration

By Elaine jSanceau

Corresponding Member
of the Institute de Coimbra

Alfred A. Knopf @

^ Ne&j York : 1944

t:

)

*.Tf$te 5jOp 3AS BEEN PRODUCED
* ***" : "rtf FtTli COMPLIANCE

AT.T, GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS
CONSEEVATION OF PAPER, METAL,

AND OTHER ESSENTIAL MATERIALS

I

COPYRIGHT 1944 BY ELAINE SANCEAU

All ri^its reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who
may quote brief .passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or news-
paper. Manufactured in the United States of America. Published simulta-
neously in Canada by The Ryerson Press.

FIRST AMERICAN EDITION

PABTI
HOW PORTUGAL SOUGHT PRESTER JOHN

Chapter Page

1. THE WANDERING MYTH 3

2. THE LOST FORERUNNER 13

3. THE ODYSSEY OF MATTHEW 20

4. A DREAM IN THE DESERT 35

5. A FRUSTRATED MISSION 46

6. THE IMPROVISED EMBASSY 62

7. PRESTER JOHN AT LAST! 76

8. A PROLONGED VISIT 86

PARTII
HOW PORTUGAL SAVED PRESTER JOHN

9. THE PATRIARCH'S RECRUITS 105

10. DOM GKISIOVAO TO THE RESCOE 117

11* DOM GRISTOVAO AND THE ETHIOPIAN QDEEN 123

12. THE CLASH OF ARMS 133

1& GRANYE'S REVENGE 142

14. ETHIOPIA DELIVERED 150

vfi

Contents

III
THE' P'AtflWG OF THE WAYS

Uhapter Page

15. HERESY AND SCHISM 165

16. THE BISHOP TAKES A HAND 170

17. WHAT TRAVELLERS TO ABYSSINIA MIGHT EXPECT 184

18. SUCCESS 200

19. THE ALTERNATIVE ROUTE 209

20. ROME VERSUS ALEXANDRIA 217

21. THE END OF A DREAM 229
NOTES 235
CHRONOLOGY 237
BIBLIOGRAPHY 241

MAPS AND ILLUSTRATION

Map showing relationship of Portuguese India to the land of

Prester John - 40

Map of Abyssinia showing itineraries of Dom Cristovao da

Gama and Dom Rod'igo de Lima 70

Coasts of the Red Sea in 1513 124

Frontispiece of the first edition of Father Francisco Alvares's

book on Ethiopia 156

JLhe modern traveller, lolling time at Estoril while waiting
for a passage on the Clipper, does not often give much thought
to the country he is passing through. A kindly people, and a
sunny sky some bathing, and some golf perhaps a smoke-
less city drenched in light hanging picturesquely from pre-
cipitous hills above a broad blue river may well be all that
Portugal will stand for in his memory. He is far too apt to for-
get the world history that was prepared beside these smiling
shores.

He may not realize that he owes it to Portugal that he
should be a modern traveller at aB! This blue estuary shining
in the sun was the highway that first led ships to the world's
end. The simple courteous people that he sees around descend
from pioneers. They are a nation that has lived adventurously
and made its mark upon the earth.

Its traces may be found over four continents. Portugal has
had an African adventure, as witnessed by the batdemented
towers she left beside Moroccan beaches, by the names she
wrote on the map, and the vast territories of Angola, Mozam-
bique, and Guinea, where she is mistress still.

She had an American adventure too, and founded a great
nation on the far shore of the Atlantic to grow amid the riches
of the forests and the mountains of Brazil

Introduction

Her Indian adventure can still be traced today by ruined
fortresses at all strategic points around the Indian Ocean, and
her language is spoken still throughout the Orient where men
of Portuguese descent are found among the native races from
East Africa to the spice archipelagoes of the Pacific.

There was an Abyssinian adventure as well, of which fewer
traces remain a side-line it turned out to be and yet in
many ways it was the strangest and the most heroic of all.

It was not intended as a side-line when first embarked upon
quite the contrary. Henry the Navigator and the kings who
continued his task looked to the Christian Empire of Ethiopia
as the cornerstone of their great enterprise. To understand
their dream we must go back to mediaeval times and remem-
ber the Holy War waged by Christians against the Moslem
hordes, for ever threatening to engulf Europe.

Portugal as a nation was born of the Crusades. When, in
711, the Moors overran the Iberian Peninsula, a handful of
Gothic warriors with their King withdrew to the Asturian
mountains. From that impregnable stronghold the armies of
the Cross defied Islam and set out to reconquer by degrees
the land that they had lost. It took them seven hundred years,
and crusaders from many European countries came to bear
apart.

Thus in the eleventh century a French prince carried arms
against the Infidel under the King of Castile and Le6n. As a
reward he was given in fief the lands that he had conquered
from the Moors, by the Atlantic Ocean. So Portugal came into
being, and some decades later threw off her allegiance to the
Castilian crown and stood, and fought, alone.

This independence was not won without a struggle. Castile,
diree times more powerful, resented the emancipation of the
younger realm, but Portugal held firm. After a terrible dynas-
tic crisis during which annexation appeared imminent, she
defeated her enemy in 1385 and so saved her existence as a
nation. .

The Moorish Kingdom of Algarve last Moslem strong-

Introduction

hold in the south of Portugal had been conquered a cen-
tury earlier. But the Moors still remained at Granada and in
North Africa a potential menace always, a peril that had

The Paynim horde outside the gate that was the spectre
that haunted mediaeval Christendom upon its southern and
its eastern borders. If the Moslems of Africa and Asia should
one day unite, all would be up with Christian Europe. That
is why the medisevals thought so lovingly of Prester John
Christian King in Africa who might protect their flank. Why
Prester and why John historians and Orientalists have not
made clear, but whatever its origin, men of the fifteenth cen-
tury were convinced that the Emperor of Abyssinia bore this
tide.

Little was known about his empire except that it was vast
and, though in the heart of the Moslem world, it had always
been Christian. To find this isolated champion of the faith, to
make alliance with him against the common foe, to make con-
tact through him with the Nestorian Christians in the spice
lands of the Orient, became the aim of Portugal, born a cru-
sading nation.

The story of this quest, undertaken in faith and carried
through tenaciously in spite of every hardship and setback, is
one of the most romantic in history. It all turned out quite
differently from what had been expected and hoped for, but
the strange fruitless adventure of Portugal in search of Prester
John remains a high light in the records of human endeavour.

PART I
HOW PORTUGAL SOUGHT PRESTER JOHN

The Wandering Myth

A world of phantoms floated around mediaeval Christendom.
Europe saw itself as a small oasis a spot of light where true
religion reigned and life was normal, while mystery and magic
veiled everything beyond.

To the west surged the ocean which no man had crossed,
impassable and enigmatic as infinity; to the east and south all
trailed away into the outer dark The earth went on, men
knew, but none could say just how. It was a wonderful and
wicked world that lay beyond the Christians* ken a world
of paynims and of infidels, of sorcery and enchantment.
Strange stories filtered through from time to time like echoes
from another planet; strange apparitions now and then broke
forth, as when a man of unknown race from the world's end
was seen on the confines of Christendom, or else sometimes
a Christian, greatly daring, would himself disappear into the
shades. At other times, more terrible than all, was heard the
gallop of horses bearing wild yellow warriors across the east-
ern steppe, and Europe trembled lest she might be swamped
by those demoniac hordes let loose from some region of name-
less horror.

The Crusades served to lift a corner of the veil. Hie cru-
saders, touching the fringe of the unknown, heard and saw
many things. Thus Europe was made aware of Far Cathay and

The Land of Prester John

the Great Khan, the Old Man of the Mountain and his Assas-
sins, and so it was that from the dim light of far away there
rose and grew the tale of Prester John.

Nobody was sure exactly where might be the realm of
Prester John, sole Christian ruler in a heathen continent, but
no one doubted his existence. There was no king on earth like
Prester John. His robes were washed in fire and woven by the
salamander. He lived in an enchanted palace in the moun-
tains, and in front of it a magic mirror stood where he could
see his vast dominions at a glance. Seven kings waited con-
stantly on Prester John, as well as sixty dukes, three hundred
and sixty counts, and knights and noblemen beyond compute.
Thirty archbishops sat at his right hand, and twenty bishops
on his left. A king and abbot was his cook, a king bishop his
butler, an archimandrite his master of horse, an archbishop
his pantler. Surrounded by menials of such exalted rank, how
could he also style himself a king? Besides, this mighty poten-
tate was perfect, therefore humble. So he was known as Pres-
byter or Prester John.

His kingdom was the land where dreams come true. The
Fountain of Youth flowed there and subterranean streams of
gems. There might be picked up the magic stone that gives
sight to the blind or makes a man invisible. No poor were in
the land of Prester John, nor misers, nor thieves, nor mur-
derers, nor even flatterers. There all men spoke the truth, and
vice did not exist. It was the earthly paradise that no man has
yet found.

Such was the mirage that shone before the eyes of the
twelfth century. Its colours faded as the years passed by, but
still the myth endured. As a night wanderer follows a will-o'-
the-wisp, mediaeval imagination pursued Prester John, whose
kingdom in like manner moved from end to end of Asia.
Sometimes it was alleged to lie beyond the Persian mountains,
sometimes in India, and sometimes on the far-off Mongolian
steppes near China.

By the fourteenth century it had travelled west. The fact

4

The Wandering Myth

had dawned on Europe that a Christian kingdom existed in
Africa. Abyssinian pilgrims sometimes visited the Holy Land,
but nobody was certain where they came from. Inaccessible
mountains, it was rumoured, locked their kingdom round.
What could it be if not the land of Prester John? Prester John
of the Indies they called him still, the vague geography of the
time confusing India with east Africa.

The realm of Prester John had ceased to be a synonym for
fairyland, but it remained alluringly remote. This outpost of
the faith, lost and cut off, was almost as appealing to imagina-
tion. When mediaeval dreams gave way to the pursuit of facts,
then men set out to seek for the reality.

It was a prince of Portugal who led the way. Henry the
Navigator stood between two worlds the dying Middle
Ages and the dawning Renaissance. The mysticism of the one
and the insatiable curiosity of the other were the driving
forces which controlled his life. He was a crusader and a man
of science rolled into one.

Dom Henrique was born in 1394 the end of an age to
a nation on the threshold of new destinies. He was third son
of the King Joao I, that valiant bastard who had upheld the
independence of the realm against the armies of Castile and
so won for himself his father's crown.

The revolution of 1382 and the long wars that followed had
shaken Portugal to her foundations but left her spiritually re-
newed. An old order had been swept away with the corrupt
court of the late King Fernande; a new dynasty sat on me
throne, a new generation of statesmen gathered around it;
new ideas were in the air, new energies were stirring in the
blood it was a nation's springtime.

The Infante Dom Henrique inherited the martial instincts
of his father, and the earnest devotion of his mother, Philippa
of Lancaster, the daughter of Chaucer's ''good Duchess
Blaunche." He was, moreover, the grandson of John of Gaunt,
patron of letters, and the descendant of Alfonse el Sabio of
Castile, and Dom Diniz, who founded Coimbra University.

5

The Land of Prester John

Thus there was intellectual ancestry on either side; Dom Hen-
rique and his brothers developed a thirst for knowledge at an
early age, and from childhood they read and collected books.

The influences of their environment, however, were against
mere contemplative cultivation of the mind and soul. Joao
and Philippa's five brilliant sons were born in the hour of tri-
umph in a country that had just been fighting for its life. They
were surrounded by men of action, and it was the heroes who
had won the victory that were the guides and models of their
boyhood. Between these and their mother, the young princes
were brought up in an atmosphere of practical piety and
high-minded militarism. The late war had been of the defen-
sive order *'a just war to obtain peace/' the Constable Nu-
nalvares Pereira had defined it, which reminds us of the mod-
ern slogan "a war to end war."

The total end of war, however, was a Utopia of which medi-
aevals rarely dreamed. All knights and gentlemen had to be
soldiers, but Henrique's generation had inherited a tradition
of fighting for the right. Their fathers* swords had won their
country's freedom; the sons who grew up in a land at peace
aspired to win their maiden spurs in the defence of a good
cause.

For men of the Iberian Peninsula, a good cause was never
far to seek. Their kingdoms were the buffer states of Chris-
tendom against the Moslem hordes outside the pale. Close to
their gates still raged a holy war, which had known intervals
of truce, but never peace, during six hundred years. It is true
that the Moor had been pushed out of Portugal, but across the
narrow straits, beyond the sea, his palmy cities flourished
almost within Christian sight. When Dom Henrique and his
brothers wished to win their knightly spurs, it seemed to them
that a high and holy enterprise would be the conquest of
Ceuta.

Queen Philippa backed up her sons* suggestions to their
father. "Since God in His mercy has been pleased to give
them strength of mind and body," said she, "I would not for

6

The Wandering Myth

the world that they should fail to execute works such as these,
however difficult!" *

So it was that, carrying with them a dying mothers bless-
ing, Dom Henrique and his brothers sailed across the straits
and were knighted by their father in the conquered Moorish
town.

That hour fixed a nation's destiny. A young man with an
inquiring mind had his first taste of Africa, and found that he
was gazing at a mystery.

Ceuta was the fairest town along the Moorish coast It over-
flowed with lovely things from far away. It was rich with
pearls from the Persian Gulf, with rubies from Ceylon, per-
fumes of Syria, and silks of Egypt, Within the flat-roofed
houses faced with coloured tiles were carpets from the Per-
sian looms and embroideries from India. Behind the houses
there were mosaic courts, scented with orange trees and musi-
cal with f ountains; behind the town were fields of sugar-cane,
orchards, and trailing vines; behind the orchards were the
hills, and then behind those what?

Ceuta, divided from the Christian world by a few leagues
of sea, was the last link of a long chain that began in the totally
unknown. And this chain could be followed back, Henrique
knew, to Satan's seat those lands where Islam reigned un-
challenged and supreme. For centuries the Infidel had held
the key to the earth's richest treasures. Now that the young
prince saw Ceuta mosque transformed into a Christian
church, he dreamed of new and greater triumphs for the
Cross. Should not the warriors of Christ pursue the "abomi-
nable sect of Mohammed" across the world and tear it like an
evil thing from its Far Eastern stronghold? Ceuta should be
only a beginning Ceuta between the desert and the sea,
with a vast unknown continent behind. How far into this
mysterious land did the accursed Crescent hold its sway? Had
Africa an end, or did it run from pole to pole? Where beyond
those hills of darkness lay the realm of Prester John, that iso-
lated champion of the faith who would surely welcome help

7

The Land of Prester John

against the common foe? If Prester John could but join forces
with the Christians of the West, could they not then destroy
Islam? And the land of Prester John was on the way to India,
that fabled treasure-house of spice and gold. Had not St.
Thomas found his way to India and planted there a Christian
church?

Dom Henrique went home with his mind full of questions.
How to reach Prester John and get in touch with that myste-
rious India that Alexander's armies had seen long ago? The
land routes of the Orient were closed to Europe. Everywhere
the Crescent barred the way, and so to reach the Christians
of the East, Dom Henrique chose the path of the Dark Ocean.

That was a fearsome undertaking. "No man sailing south
of Cape Bojador returns alive!" declared mediaeval wisdom.
A region of nameless horror stretched beyond. The Middle
Ages formulated theories and left the matter there, but the
Renaissance was seized with the desire to prove. Intellectu-
ally, Dom Henrique was of the Renaissance though he lived
and died a generation earlier. When he began to wonder, then
he must find out

He gave his life up to this end. He established his abode in
the far south of Portugal, on the Cape of Sagres, the last point
of Europe. There, "where two seas, the Mediterranean and
the Great Ocean, fight together," he set himself to solve tie
riddle of the universe and so "attain the purpose that he had
in mind, to discover from the western side the navigation to
Oriental India."

Pleasure, political power, even family ties meant nothing to
the recluse of Sagres, and afl the revenues of the Order of
Christ, of which he was Grand Master, were devoted to his
quest. Upon his windswept rock the Infante gathered about
him a unique court: mathematicians, astronomers, cartogra-
phers, makers of instruments of precision, builders of ships>
collected there from far and wide, each contributing his own
particle of skill or wisdom to the task. Witt the men of theory
came the men of action all the seamen, pilots and adventur-

8

The Wandering Myth

cms young fidalgos of Portugal, as well as foreign wanderers
out to see the world and seek their fortune. And mingling
with the sages and the sailors of the West were more exotic
types. The Infante by his largesse lured into his orbit pilgrims
from the Levant who came to visit Occidental shrines Syri-
ans and Copts and other dwellers on the confines of Christen-
dom who carried with them echoes of the world beyond.
From such he gathered news about the Arab trade with the
Far East, and how their treasure-laden djelbas sailed up to
Suez bringing the spices of India to Alexandria and Cairo. But
the strangest tales were brought by captives such as the Moor
Adahu, who told of inland seas far in the heart of Africa, of
how salt caravans crossed the Sahara into the Sudan, and how
hundreds of camels laden with gold went down to the Red
Sea from Timbuktu.

Thus surrounded by "men of diverse nationalities," the In-
fante Dom Henrique spent his days and nights co-ordinating
all his clues, meditating upon travellers* reports, poring over
old maps, compiling others, wrestling with mathematics,
studying the stars, and from all this deducing a new science
how men might find their path on trackless seas. And continu-
ally he sent forth ships each year more ships with orders
to sail farther and farther south until they found the end of
Africa.

They sailed cautiously at first for might not any land of
monster haunt the South Atlantic? and then with reckless
ease, for after all no bogy put in an appearance, and though
they sailed into the tropics, the ocean never boiled as those
supposed to know affirmed it would. They even found out
with a shock that Ptolemy that oracle of all learned medi-
sevals "the illustrious Ptolemy, who wrote so well of many
things,** says one of Dom Henrique's men, *was quite mis-
taken here!** Ptolemy had declared the tropics to be ^uninhab-
ited because of the great heat, and we found quite the con-
trary!" 2 Such was the crumbling up of preconceived ideas.
Even the demon Cape Bojador turned out to be an overrated

9

The Land of Prester John

terror. It is true that a ship could not sail home against the
current that ran down the coast, but the answer was to lose all
sight of land and sweep a circle out to sea.

The Dark Ocean soon ceased to frighten Henrique's navi-
gators. They engulfed themselves far from all continents and
found the lovely islands lost in the Atlantic. They defied one
by one the capes of Africa Bojador, Branco, Palmas, and
beyond. They saw the desert shores give way to tropic green,
they saw all Arab traces fade away and Berber types suc-
ceeded by the genuine Negro yet the intriguing coast ran
on and on, apparently for ever.

Dom Henrique never showed signs of discouragement. He
colonized Madeira and the Azores; he built fortresses and
trading factories on the coast of Africa, and sent his caravels
far out to sea towards the unknown west Whether they
reached the Antilles forty years in advance of Columbus, or
Brazil fifty years before Cabral, is a question that historians
are debating still. It is certain that the Infante sought to pene-
trate the undiscovered world in all directions, but he never
lost sight of the East and Prester John.

Exactly how much he did upon the eastern side is wrapped
in even deeper mystery than the Atlantic explorations that he
organized. His messengers must have succeeded in some pen-
etration overland, if we may judge by Azurzra's enigmatic
chronicle. "He joined East to West,** says this writer, who died
in 1474, twenty-four years before the sea route to the East
had been discovered. And in one of his bursts of rhetoric this
same chronicler paints a glowing picture of how the inhabit-
ants of the Nile Valley might now be seen wearing the In-
fante's armorial device and decked in jewels and finery from
Portugal. *What brought this about," he cries, apostrophizing
his hero, "if not the liberality of thy expenditure and the la-
bours of thy servants moved by thy virtuous intelligence,
through which were carried to the farthest Orient things fash-
ioned in the West?" It has been pointed out that Azurzra, in
common with most of his contemporaries, believed the Niger

10

The Wandering Myth

to be a branch of the Nile. That may be so, but both he and
they knew East from West and could not possibly describe
as "fins do Oriente" the west coast of Africa.

Even more intriguing is a document discovered not long
ago in the Chancelaria of Af onso V. Here we find mention of a
certain Jorge, "ambassador of Prester John," who was in Por-
tugal in 1452. Nothing more is known about this personage.
No chronicler, contemporary or subsequent, ever refers to
him, and when, sixty years later, a messenger from Abyssinia
arrived at Dom Manuel's court, he was welcomed as the first
ambassador from Prester John.

Who, then, was Jorge, and what? Was he some Abyssinian
pilgrim to Rome or Jerusalem that Henrique's agents had way-
laid and persuaded to visit Portugal? Such an explanation
seems quite probable, but why then call him an ambassador?

It was in 1454, two years after this mysterious visit, that we
find Af onso V bestowing upon the Order of Christ, of which
Henrique was Grand Master, spiritual jurisdiction over
Guinea, Nubia, and Ethiopia. 3

We can speculate as freely as we choose about all this. It is
a puzzle with too many pieces missing to be reconstructed
otherwise than by imagination.

When Dom Henrique died, in 1460, the problems that he
had set himself were still mostly unsolved. The land of Prester
John had hardly ceased to be a legend. The dream of a sea
route to India was not substantiated yet. But in his lifetime
Dom Henrique had changed the world. His hand had swept
away for ever the phantoms with which men's imagination
peopled the Atlantic. A nation had lost all terror of the ocean.
And the nation that the Infante had trained in seamanship
was young and strong a people yet unspoiled by luxury,
who had lived by agriculture and the swordL Their fathers
had bequeathed to them a great fighting tradition. Few in
number, they were used to overcoming fearful odds. Sons of
the vanquishers of both Moors and Castilians, they felt them-
selves to be invincible. As for the perils of the deep, a sea

11

The Land of Prester John

voyage was no longer a haphazard adventure, but a problem
to be worked out by the rules of an exact science. Portugal
thus faced the unknown world and feared it not at all.

The great quest was carried on. Af onso V, the African, en-
grossed though he was in the conquest of Morocco, did not
forget it altogether; and his son, the future Dom Joao II, on
attaining manhood, brought to bear upon the problem all the
vigour of his restless intellect. "He was determined," we are
told, "to pursue the discovery of the Guinea coast that his
predecessors had begun, for by that coast it seemed to him
that he would find the land of Prester John of which he heard
reports, and by that way he might reach India." 4

So the little ships continued seeking new horizons. In 1471
Alvaro Esteves had crossed the Equator. In 1484, a stone pillar
was erected near the Congo River by Diogo Cao. Finally, in
1486, Bartolomeu Bias struck boldly out to sea and sailed far
south of the discovered world. For thirteen days his fifty-ton
caravels ran blindly before wild winds and raging seas, and
the long-sought cape was turned at last, unknowingly amid
the shrieking storm. "Cape of Tempests," the sailors called it
when they saw the giant upon their homeward way. "Call it
rather Cape of Good Hope!" said Dias, with visions of the
golden East before his eyes, and so the name remained. But
they had gleaned no news of Prester John upon those savage
shores.

At home in Portugal, meanwhile, the King, Dom Joao II,
was speeding on the enterprise in another direction. While
Bartolomeu Dias was seeking Prester John on the east coast of
Africa, two men had been sent forth from Santatem upon an
equally stirring adventure.

Afonso de Paiva and Pero da Covilham were to travel from
Egypt inland, gathering all the information that they could
about the trade routes of the East and India. They were to
reach Ethiopia by some means and bear a letter from their
King to Prester John.

12

The Lost Forerunner

Dom Joao II of Portugal was no star-gazing mystic. Chasing
shadows did not in the least appeal to that brisk and Machia-
vellian monarch. If he sent messengers into the blue, it was
that he felt fairly certain that they would find substance at
their journey's end.

His pioneers had been collecting dues for some time past.
The men who braved the terrors of the deep would not be
daunted by the equatorial forest They plunged in and ex-
plored. Strange black kingdoms were found below those
steaming shades, all savage realms of Ju-ju worshippers; but
even from such depths of heathen night were gathered hints
of something else beyond.

Twenty moons' journey towards the rising sun, declared the
woolly-pated men of Benin, there ruled the great King Ogan6.
The chiefs of Benin regarded this Ogan6 with almost reli-
gious veneration as a being far above themselves. None of
them had ever seen him; they sent him their ambassadors
when they acceded to the throne, and that was all. Nor did
even the ambassadors see Ogan6, for curtains always veiled
the august one from profane gaze. All that the envoys of
Benin ever saw of him was just one foot, protruded once only
for them to feast their eyes upon before they left On this same
happy occasion Ogan6 would present his visitors with a shin-
is

The Land of Prester John

ing brass helmet for their King, and a brazen cross for him
to hang about his neck. Without these insignia no king of
Benin could reign lawfully.

The ambassador also would receive his gift before he wan-
dered back across the heart of Africa. He took away with
him a little cross, a small model of that sent to his master. The
proud possessor of this trophy was endowed with special privi-
leges when he reached home.

Twenty moons* journey to the east that meant 250
leagues, more or less; the Portuguese calculated from what
they knew of the native rate of progress in the bush. Dom
Joao called for his experts and his maps, and they studied the
matter. The land of Ogan lay to the south of Egypt, it would
seem, and surely Ogane was Prester John!

Dom Joao resolved to conjure this mysterious and inacces-
sible greatness from its splendid isolation and draw it into
touch with his own little kingdom of the West. Prester John
would help him find the way to India, he felt sure. Mean-
while, to break the silence of the ages and communicate across
the intervening unknown space seemed almost like sending
messages to Mars.

Dom Joao left no stone unturned. Countless black prison-
ers were let loose down the west coast of Africa. All had been
treated well. All were laden with gifts and richly clad. They
should have glowing tales to carry to their inland homes about
the marvellous realm beyond the sea, the birdlike ships which
sailed so far, and the greatness of the King who owned them.
Some echoes of all this might cross the wilderness to Prester
John.

Dom Joao also tried more direct means. His first attempt
was unsuccessful. Two monks, who felt their zeal enough to
compensate for all deficiencies, plunged boldly into the
breach. But the good men had underestimated the difficulty
of travel in the Middle East without a word of Arabic to help
them. They got no farther than Jerusalem, whence they turned
back discouraged.

14

The Lost Forerunner

Dom Joao was not the man to repeat a mistake. He selected
a new pair of messengers practical laymen this time, with
an easy flow of Arabic at their command.

Pero da Covilham, a linguist with an adventurous soul, al-
ready had behind him a chequered career. He had served the
Duke of Medina Sidonia in Castile as a youth, but when war
broke out with his native land, he went home. He accompa-
nied King Afonso V to France on his famous visit to Louis
XI; he became successively guardsman to Dom Joao II, a spy
across the border in Castile, and ambassador to Morocco. He
negotiated treaties with the King of Tlemcen, arranged for
the return from Fez of the bones of the martyred Infante Dom
Fernando, and purchased horses for the future King Dom
Manuel, then Duke of Beja. In all these things he had served
faithfully, Dom Joao suavely said, and he was lucky also.
Now he must undertake a great thing for the crown. Let him,
with Afonso de Paiva for companion, travel east to find the
realm of Prester John! Dom Joao would give him a letter to
that enigmatic personage, who would doubtless be able to in-
form them from which of the Indian ports the spices came
that reached Venice via Alexandria and Cairo.

Pero da Covilham and Afonso de Paiva bowed before the
royal commands. The King handed them a planisphere on
which to mark the land of Prester John, when its site should
be discovered. He also gave them 400 cruzados, partly cash
and partly letter of credit on the Medicis* bank, for travelling
expenses, and his blessing. So equipped, on May 7, 1487 the
dauntless pair started from Santarem.

Only the bare outlines of their adventures are recorded-
From Barcelona they embarked for Naples, where they
cashed their cheque before proceeding to Rhodes. Two com-
patriots, Knights of St. John, welcomed the travellers into
their house, and there they stayed awhile. Bidding farewell
to these kind hosts, the companions turned their backs upon
the friendly island of the Hospitallers the last of their fa-
miliar world that either would ever see and, disguised as

15

The Land of Prester John

merchants with honey to sell, they crossed to Alexandria. Both
nearly died of fever there, but as soon as they were better
they pushed on to Cairo. Adopting Moslem garb, they joined
some Moors from Maghreb, whom they accompanied to Aden.

Beside the arid VMS upon the desert edge the two friends
said good-bye. Pero da Covilham embarked upon an Arab
dhow sailing for India. He was following the spices to their
f ountainhead while Af onso de Paiva crossed the strait to jour-
ney to Ethiopia and to Prester John. At a later date agreed
upon by both, they were to meet at Cairo.

So each man went his lonely way. Afonso de Paiva's wan-
derings never will be known. Whether he reached Ethiopia
after all and what befell him, there are no records to tell. We
only hear that he got back to Cairo first and there he died
alone.

Pero da Covilham meanwhile visited the countries where
the spices grew. He disembarked at Cannanore, the port for
ginger. He saw, moreover, Calicut strange gorgeous city
of thatched houses and half-naked men, of coco palms beside
the beach, of gold and jewels and elephants and pepper. Es-
pecially pepper! Pepper may not mean much to us, but in
that age it ranked with precious stones. Men risked the perils
of the deep and fought and died for pepper. We find that hard
to understand, perhaps, for the romance of pepper has now
faded from the earth.

Tearing himself from the dazzling spectacle of Calicut,
Pero da Covilham went on to the lordly town of Goa, where
the Moslem dynasty of Bijapur held sway. Thence he em-
barked for Sof ala and Madagascar the Arabs called it Island
of the Moon. To complete his tour of Indian Ocean ports, he
took ship to Ormuz, the richest city all around those coasts.
Having admired the splendours there, the wanderer returned
to Aden. He kept his tryst at Cairo in due course, but found
he was too late. There was nothing left but to go home.

At this juncture two Jews appeared upon the scene. Rabbi
Abraham from Beja, and Joseph, a shoemaker of Lamego,

16

The Lost Forerunner

were inquiring secretly for him. Rabbi Abraham had letters
from the King, and Joseph of Lamego was to take the answer
back,

Pero da Covilham studied the instructions of his lord and
master. If he had been to all the places indicated and collected
all the information that the King required, the monarch said
benignly that he might return. If, however, he had not yet
found Prester John, men let him spare no effort till that was
achieved. No difficulty ought to dismay him, added Dom
Joao, in that tone of encouragement so easy to assume when
spurring on another.

This was not all. Rabbi Abraham, a travelled man, had
heard about the glories of Ormuz, and informed Dom Joao,
who wanted to know more. Before proceeding to Abyssinia,
Pero da Covilham would therefore escort the rabbi to Qnnuz
and send him back to report to the King.

Pero da Covilham, as it happened, wanted to go home. He
was tired of wandering in outlandish parts. The heather and
pines of Portugal, the cool slopes of his native Serra da Estrels,
seemed infinitely more alluring than the scorched rocks of
Aden or the blazing Persian Gulf. Besides, he had a wife
by now it might be that he had a child at Covilham,

But orders were orders. If Portuguese kings asked a great
deal of their subjects, it must be said that they met with a
magnificent response. Pero da Covilham turned his face from
the home he never was to see again and travelled to Aden
and Ormuz. He left his Hebrew companion there with letters
for the King. Rabbi Abraham would join a caravan and return
via Aleppo. Pero da Covilham, meanwhile, sailed back to the
Red Sea.

He visited Jidda while he was about it, and Mecca and
Medina, thence to Tor and after down to Zeila, where he
plunged inland and up the mountains. And so at last, in 1494,
he reached the court of Prester John.

Alexander, Lion of Judah, King of Kings, received the for-
eigner with open arms. He was flattered to have been sought

17

The Land of Prester John

out by a brother Christian monarch far away. Pero da Covil-
ham's difficult mission was at last accomplished. Soon he
might travel triumphantly home.

But while he waited for his dispatch the Emperor Alexan-
der died. His brother Naod, who succeeded to the throne,
was veiy pleasant to the stranger, but ignored Dom Joao's
messages. Pero da Covilham then craved for leave to go, but
the monarch refused. It was not the custom of his country,
he declared, to let a foreigner depart. Pero da Covilham thus
found himself marooned.

He was not badly treated. They gave him an Abyssinian
bride and broad acres of land. One writer * says they even
held out hopes that he might have leave to go if he produced
and left behind a son!

Pero da Covilham hastened to oblige, but still he was de-
tained. Dom Joao must be dead, said they, so why return?
Let him remain in the employment of his lands and rear his
half-caste family.

Pero da Covilham accepted his fate. He gave up hope of
seeing Portugal again, or the wife that he had left at Covil-
ham. He learned to speak and write the language like a native,
and lived like an Abyssinian nobleman on his estate.

He seems to have been influential in the land and always
very well received at court. The Dowager Queen Helena es-
pecially enjoyed his conversation. She liked to hear accounts
of Portugal. Also, one gathers that his artistic taste was appre-
ciated by the lady, for when she built a church, Pero da
Covilham, at her request, designed the altar.

She might have had more competent advice. The Portu-
guese traveller, it appears, was not the only European at that
time immured in Abyssinia. A Venetian painter, Nicola Bianca
Leone, was also there. How or why or whence he came, no-
body knows. He must have lived in Abyssinia over fifty years.
One who met Trim in his advanced old age describes Tifrn pa-
tronizingly as "a very worthy person and great lord, although
a painter"! 2 It was in his professional capacity that he once

18

The Lost 'Forerunner

had scandalized the Abyssinians when decorating a church
for Alexander's father. He depicted the Virgin with the Holy
Child on her left arm! This struck the natives as almost sacri-
legious, but the Negus evidently liked the picture, for it
stayed.

We are not told if the two stranded Europeans found con-
solation in each other's company; neither do we know any-
thing about the meeting which, presumably, took place in
1508 between Pero da Covilham and two compatriots of
whom we shall hear later. Certainly all such voices from the
world that he had lost were few and rare, and when, in 1521,
Dom Rodrigo de Lima's embassy reached Abyssinia, the exile
wept with joy to see his fellow countrymen. He was particu-
larly glad of the opportunity to confess himself to the chap-
lain who accompanied the delegates. For over thirty years,
he told Father Francisco Alvares, he had remained unshriven.
The reason was that the secrecy of the confessional was ill ob-
served in Abyssinia, and Pero da Covilham, a cautious soul,
would take no risks. He simply went to church, said he, and
told his sins to God. 3

Dom Rodrigo would have taken him back home with them,
but the exile refused. It was too late, he said; "I am too old!"
But he expressed the wish to send one of his many sons to
Portugal to see the King. This young man, aged twenty-three,
"the colour of a russet pear," would claim the reward that
should have been his father's due. Also, the latter was not
sure, perhaps he had another son at Covflham. If that should
be so, the half-caste youth would bear with him twenty ounces
of gold to give to his white brother. 4 If such a person did in-
deed exist, we cannot tell, nor what had been the fate of the
young wife left waiting so many years for a husband who
never returned. We only know that the brown boy died be-
fore he reached the shores of the Red Sea, and the gold that
he carried was sent back inland to his f ather. Thus the gulf
that deft a life in two was never bridged.

Pero da Covilham died in Abyssinia.

19

The Odyssey of Matthew

The years that Pero da Covilham remained lost in the Abys-
sinian mountains had been eventful in the outer world. In
1497 Vasco da Gama had sailed round the Cape to Calicut,
and the gateway of the East at last stood open wide. The
Portuguese built fortresses in India and East Africa and took
possession of the TmrJigm Ocean. Only faint echoes of all this
penetrated the inland fastnesses of Abyssinia.

But Portugal had not forgotten Prester John. Messengers
might die, and messengers might disappear, but Portugal
was bent on getting into touch with Prester John, and the
Portuguese are a tenacious race. In 1506 a third attempt was
made. Joao Gomes and Joao Sanches, with Sid Mohammed,
a Tunisian Moor, to be their guide, sailed with Tristao da
Cunha's fleet and were landed at Malindi in due course.
Thence, it would seem, they failed to make progress, Because
around Malindi the Kaffirs of the bush are very wild and
fierce, so they decided that it would be better to strike inland
from somewhere nearer to the Straits/* Thus it was that, in
March 1508, a certain Francisco de Tavora, captain of a unit
of the Indian Ocean fleet, found them still waiting at Malindi
and took them off with him to his commander.

The great Af onso de Albuquerque, at that time chief cap-

20

The Odyssey of Matthew

tain of the fleet off the Arabian coast, was cruising in the
neighbourhood of Guardafui. Having himself been present
when Joao Gomes had disembarked in Africa more than a
year before, he was amazed to see the party- reappear. Since
they had not travelled via Malindi, he inquired of Sid Mo-
hammed, what route they did propose. The Moor said that
it would be best to strike inland from Berbera or Zeila and
then return to Portugal via Timbuktu.

Albuquerque gave them letters for Prester John in Arabic
and Portuguese and fifty seraphims for their travelling ex-
penses; more than that the canny Moor refused to take
money, he said, was the worst enemy a wayfarer could have.
Nor, apparently, did he think much of Joao Gomes as a travel-
ling companion. The man was an unceasing chatterbox! Sid
Mohammed feared that he might get the party into trouble
if he could not hold his tongue. 1

All three were put ashore on the Somali coast near Guarda-
fui, all posing as Moslem merchants whom the Portuguese
had robbed, and so they walked away into the blue and off
the map. Thenceforward they are no more than wandering
names seen here by some, reported to be there by others,
but they never come into the light again. In 1510 Joao Gomes
seems to have been met by two Castilian Jews at Suakin. 2 The
Moor was with him still, but Joao Sanches was dead. The sur-
viving pair were setting off tor Cairo when a quarrel parted
them. Sid Mohammed vanished into the desert, and Joao
Gomes sailed for Jidda alone. The Jews said that his inten-
tions were to make for Alexandria and Venice. That is the
last we ever hear of him.

It is certain, however, that he had reached Abyssinia. More
than that, we know he was received at court. The Emperor
at that date was under twelve years old, the kingdom being
governed by his step-grandmother, Queen Helena, a devout
and very learned lady who composed works of theology in her
spare time. The Regent was interested in the Portuguese, and
so she caused to be drawn up this edifying letter:

21

The Land of Prester John

In the name of the Father, the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Three
Persons, and One God, grace and blessing rest upon our beloved
brother King Manuel, Rider of the seas, Subjugator and Oppressor
of infidels and Moslem unbelievers may the Lord Christ prosper
you and give you victory over your foes. May He enlarge and ex-
tend your dominions through tne intercession of those messengers
of Christ, the four evangelists, John, Luke, Mark, Matthew, may
their sanctity and prayers preserve you!

We would inform our beloved brother how two messengers ar-
rived here from your great and lofty house. One was named Joao,
who said he was a priest, and the other Joao Gomes. They said:
we require provisions and men. We are therefore sending Matthew,
our ambassador, with orders to reach one of your Indian ports and
tell you that we can supply you with mountains of provisions, and
men like unto the sands of the sea!

We have news that the Lord of Cairo is building ships to fight
your fleet, and we shall give you so many men ... as to wipe the
Moors from the face of the earth! We by land, and you, brothers,
on the sea!

The lady further on bursts into prophecy:

Now is the moment come [she cries] for the fulfilment of the
promise made by Christ and Holy Mary, His Mother, that in the
last time there would arise a king among the Franks who would
make an end of all the Moors!

Everything that Matthew, our ambassador, may tell you, be-
lieve as from ourselves, for he is the best man that we have, and
if we had another who knew or understood more than he we should
have sent him. We would have entrusted our message to those of
your subjects who came here, but we feared that they might not
represent our case as we desire.

With this ambassador, Matthew, we are sending a cross made of
the wood of that on which Our Lord was crucified. It was brought
me from Jerusalem, and I had two crosses made out of it, one for
us, and the other one for you. The said wood is black and has a little
silver ring attached to it We could have sent you much gold, but
we feared that the Moors might steal it on the way.

If you are willing, we should be very glad to have your daugh-

22

The Odyssey of Matthew

ters in marriage for our sons, or better still if you would marry
your sons to our daughters. With which no more, save that salva-
tion and grace of Our Redeemer Christ and Our Lady the Holy
Virgin rest on your estate, upon your sons and daughters, and on
all your house! Amen. We moreover add that were we to muster
all our people we could fill the world, but we have no power on the
sea. May Christ Jesus help you, for certainly the things that you
have done in India are miraculous! *

This affectionate and pious letter was written in both Arabic
and Persian. It has been surmised that Pero da Covilham as-
sisted in its composition; but if that were so, surely he would
have appended a Portuguese translation, and no such thing
accompanied the letter. Such as it was, the document was
signed and sealed, and delivered to the Matthew aforesaid.

This man's identity would seem a little vague. An Armenian,
says one contemporary; a Christian merchant resident in
Cairo, says another; a recently converted Moslem, affirms a
third; the brother of the Coptic Patriarch of Cairo and mar-
ried to a kinswoman of Prester John, apparently declared
Matthew himself/ All these statements may be true most
of them are not incompatible. What we know for certain is
that the man was white, of distinguished, appearance, and
middle-aged. There was a boy travelling with him his
brother-in-law, Matthew explained, and also an ambassador,
though too young to take a personal share in any negotia-
tions. The lad's function in Matthew's train was therefore
purely ornamental.

Both arrayed themselves as Moslem merchants, the pre-
cious cross was inconspicuously wrapped up in an old rag,
and they set out for Zeila. Orders were to sail from there to
India and ask the Portuguese Governor fear a passage with
the homebound fleet

It certainly was uphill work for Portugal and Abyssinia to
communicate. If the voyages of Pero da Covilham and Joao
Gomes had been adventurous, that of Matthew in the other
direction was just as bad. It may have been even more diffi-

23

The Land of Prester John

cult, for while the Portuguese had travelled unencumbered,
Matthew had brought with him at least one wife.

Accompanied by this lady and her maid, or understudy
contemporary opinion seems uncertain which was which, or
what the ambassadors arrived at Zeila, where they were
robbed and imprisoned before they could proceed. 5 Manag-
ing to get away from Zeila at last, they took ship to Dabul
from the frying-pan, as it turned out, into the fire.

Dabul was a port belonging to the Moslem kings of Bijapur,
and commanded by a captain of the famous Ismail Adil Khan.
Devout follower of Islam though Matthew seemed to be,
something went wrong. His mission was discovered or sus-
pected, and Matthew found himself in prison once again,
while the captain took possession of his goods. The latter sent
word to his master, Ismail Adil Khan: exactly what was he to
do with Matthew? The crown of Bijapur had recently lost Goa
to the Portuguese and did not wish to see the enemy strength-
ened by any new alliance.

Happily for Matthew, Goa was near Dabul, and it hap-
pened that Af onso de Albuquerque, then Governor of India,
was at the moment there. He had just inflicted a smashing de-
feat upon another one of Ismail's officers. The Governor heard
about Matthew and sent a message to Dabul: This man had
come to speak to him and was on no account to be detained.
If Matthew were not released immediately, then Albuquerque
would be obliged to do that which he would rather not

The captain of Dabul did not inquire what "that" might be,
though certainly he was between the devil and the deep sea.
He had not yet had his reply from Ismail Adil Elan, but he
dared not argue with the conqueror of Goa and Malacca. He
preferred to set Matthew at liberty, returning all the stolen
goods, "without a bodkin missing"! An unfortunate mistake,
the captain suavely explained; had it occurred to him that
Albuquerque might want to see this man, he would have
speeded him to Goa. He proceeded so to do, for which com-
pliance his own angry lord nearly cut off his head

24

The Odyssey of Matthew

Agreeably aware that Ismail Adil Khan was foaming at
the mouth, Albuquerque welcomed Matthew ostentatiously.
The messenger from Prester John could not have arrived at
a more significant moment.

It was December of 1512, just over six years since Afonso
de Albuquerque had flashed into the Orient and set himself
immediately to laying the foundations of an empire. During
those six years, first as commander of the fleet off the Arabian
coast, and then as Governor of India, he had established
Portuguese supremacy from Ormuz to Malacca. Already Per-
sia courted him, Calicut was fawning at his side, the Turkish
lords of the Deccan were lashed to heel, and the Moslem
kingdom of Cambay was apprehensively polite. There was no
longer any power in India that would care to challenge him,
and he had just returned from conquering Malacca and bring-
ing the chief kingdoms of the archipelago under Portuguese
sway. All this was the progressive working out of a tremendous
plan. Uniting the fervour of an imperialist to that of a
crusader, Albuquerque dreamed of an empire for his country
vaster than the worlds conquered by Alexander that would
bring about the triumph of the Cross over the Crescent once
for all.

Afonso de Albuquerque, whose birth nearly coincides with
the death of the Infante Dom Henrique, is another instance of
a man whose whole soul is bound up in an idea to the exclusion
of all human aspirations after private happiness or physical
repose. Of the two, the case of Albuquerque is perhaps the
more remarkable because, even more versatile and many-
sided than was the Infante in his gifts, and more complex
in character, he equals him in singleness of aim. To Albu-
querque his work was life apart from it he seemed to wish
for nothing. If he desired honours, it was only to give him
more authority in Asia; he only wanted wealth that he might
meet public expense out of his own coffers when funds failed
to arrive from home; and the chief reward that he hoped for
his services was to be permitted to die at his post

25

The Land of Prcster John

He knew quite well that he might not live long enough to
fulfil his program, and until that was accomplished he could
have no rest. As Governor, he worked both day and night,
bringing to his task a tenacity that few men have equalled, a
military genius that made the hardest conquest seem a simple
thing, and a capacity for ruling native races that never failed
to win the conquered peopled hearts. Albuquerque was,
moreover, one of those few men who combine with a vision
that sees far into the future a practical realism that takes in
little things of every day. We find him dwelling upon grandi-
ose schemes such as that of uniting with the Shiah Shah of
Persia to destroy Sunnite Islam and so to reconquer Jerusa-
lem, and giving his attention to homely details such as the
packing of cargo for ships, or the distribution of rice rations
to poor children of the schools founded by himself for little
natives. No design was too magnificent for his imperial edi-
fice, but the smallest stone to be fitted into its structure was
worth thought and cafre.

With all this, no empire-builder ever had scantier material
resources at his command. King Manuel of Portugal had large
ambitions: he sent elaborate and exacting orders to his cap-
tains overseas, but when it came to furnishing the necessary
supplies, he seems to have expected the Lord to provide!
Shortage of men, of ships or armaments and money was the
problem that faced Albuquerque at every turn of his career.
In 1507 he had sailed to conquer Ormuz with six ships and
400 men, equipped, as he himself describes, with "weapons
few and rotten, the stock of sail-cloth, cables, and ropes de-
pleted, wet gunpowder, few bombardiers, one or two carpen-
ters and coopers, lances all rotten, crossbows without any ar-
rows, and a hundred and fifty men sick unto death ... we
may have had food and water for eight days/*

With such a fleet he conquered Kalyat, Kurhat, Muscat,
and Sohar on the Oman coast, and finally Ormuz, queen city
of the Persian Gulf.

As Governor of India he was scarcely better supplied. "I

The Odyssey of Matthew

entreat Your Highness, send me arms,** we find him writing In
October 1510. "Many lances, many pikes ... I have never
seen a more pitiful sight than these fortresses there is not a
lance to be found in them!"

He conquered Goa a few weeks later, none the less, with
1,680 men against 10,000 to 12,000 well-armed Turks who
held the town for Ismail Adil Khan.

Eight months after this, Albuquerque seized Malacca, with
1,000 against 20,000 men, and the rotten old ship in which he
sailed to do the deed broke in two and sank beneath him on
the return voyage. He arrived in India with two leaky ships
and a handful of men, but even so his name was quite suffi-
cient to dismay the troops sent by Adil Khan to besiege Goa
in the conqueror's absence. Albuquerque, with the reinforce-
ments that arrived from Portugal that year, ejected the Mos-
lems from their stronghold at Benastarim by one of those au-
dacious military manoeuvres in which he excelled. Ismail saw
his last hope of recovering Goa fade away and sent his mes-
sengers to ask for peace.

Albuquerque was satisfied with the way that his plans were
working out. He held the chief strategic points along the In-
dian coast, and he had fortified Malacca at the gate of the
Far East. Portugal commanded all the trade routes of the
Orient except that of the Red Sea. Itis corner of the map was
the weak point and danger spot of Portuguese dominion.

During the past twelve years the Portuguese had come to
view the Indian Ocean as their private lake. Their ships pa-
trolled its waves in every direction, challenging any native
craft that dared to navigate without the Governor's permit.
But the Red Sea was an enigma still. No European fleet had
ever sailed into the Arabs' "Enclosed Sea," where "ships of
Mecca" bolted into safety. Between the desert shores beyond
Bab-el-Mandeb the Crescent reigned supreme, and the Sol-
dan of Egypt was still the chief hope of his co-religionists.
The Portuguese had once destroyed his fleet, but it was ex-
pected that he would launch another. "The Lord of Cairo is

27

The Land of Prester John

building ships to fight yours/* wrote Queen Helena to Dom
Manuel. The rumour had reached India before Matthew
came, and Suez was said to be the Soldan's naval base. The
only menace to Portuguese sea power was Egypt, and Egypt
might at any moment be incorporated in the still more dan-
gerous rising empire of the Turk. If Portugal could once ob-
tain control of the Red Sea, then the spice trade would be
entirely in her hands, and all the forces of Islam smitten to
death.

"I must enter the Straits this year," wrote Albuquerque to
his King, and after defeating the troops of Adil Khan he pre-
pared to do so. Matthew's arrival at this moment from those
very shores with offers of an Abyssinian alliance was strangely
opportune. "If Your Highness could but see," the Governor
wrote jubilantly, "what is going on in India since it became
known that this was an ambassador from Prester John, it
would seem to you as the portent of some great change, so dis-
mayed are the people of India. May it please Our Lord that
this should be the beginning of the ruin of the house of
Mecca/*

Matthew's welcome at Goa was accordingly elaborate.

We received the ambassador with a procession [writes Albu-
querque], and went with him to church. There, a sermon was de-
livered by a preaching friar who showed us the True Cross and
held it out for us to kiss, and we touched many jewels with it. After-
wards I accompanied the ambassador to his lodging, where I or-
dered that he should he well provided for and served. I gave him
two slave girls, his countrywomen, for his service and "that of his
wife, and I also gave him two boys from his country who could
speak our language.

Between the tribulations of the past and those that lay
before him, Matthew's brief stay at Goa must have been a
pleasant interlude. He fared sumptuously in the best rooms of
the palace at Goa, waited upon like a great lord. Presents
were daily showered upon him and his at some inconven-

28

The Odyssey of Matthew

ience, we imagine, to his hosts. Articles appropriate for com-
plimentary gifts were lacking from Portuguese government
stores, to judge by documents that inform us how such objects
were collected when occasion arose. Any person possessing
something of value might be called upon to hand it over,
subject to payment at a future date, sooner or later according
to the uncertain ebb and flow of the exchequer.

From records of the settlements of such accounts we learn
how, among other things, Matthew was given two gold rings
set with rubies, relinquished by one of those Jews who had
reported the passage of Joao Gomes at Sualcin; an unknown
Joao Mendes provided a piece of brocade; and a length of
damask cloth, two pouches of musk, and a silken girdle were
contributed by one Gomes Teixeira. A velvet tunic went to
swell Matthew's wardrobe from that of Bastiam Rodrigues,
and a similar brocaded garment from Joao Machado. A "Por-
tuguese mattress, large and good," 6 was taken from another
person to soften the ambassadorial slumber, and public
funds being, as usual, low the Governor advanced 177 cru-
zados of his own to buy the honoured guest further unspecified
requirements. Some gold pieces were also pressed upon Mat-
thew, but **as there were not many of them,** writes Albu-
querque in a letter to the King, "I made out that I was merely
sending him a few samples of the coinage of Your Highness.'* T

Thus enriched and gratified, Matthew sailed for Cannanore
together with a letter from the Governor ordering the ambas-
sador to be embarked for Portugal with every honour.

"Ambassador indeed!" sniffed Jorge de Melo, captain of
Cannanore, and eyed the unfortunate Matthew askance. It
did not really concern Jorge de Melo whether this was an
ambassador or not; the matter with him was that he had had
a difference of opinion with the Governor and wanted to get
his own back in some way.

As Matthew's fll luck would have it, Jorge de Melo was not
the only man at Cannanore just then who happened to be in
that frame of mind. Francisco Pereira Pestana had not seea

29

The Land of Prester John

eye to eye with his chief regarding the amount of pay that
was his due, and felt besides that his own prowess on the bat-
tlefield was insufficiently admired. He was now about to sail
for Portugal in a very bad temper, and he and Jorge de Melo
shook their heads in unison.

Stirring the soup of their resentment was a third party, by
the name of Caspar Pereira. Besides being a professional in-
triguer, Caspar Pereira also considered himself to be an in-
jured person. The Governor had proposed taking him to the
Red Sea, and Caspar Pereira did not wish to go. He an-
nounced that he was far too ill for such adventures and so
lingered at Cannanore with someone else's wife, engaged in
his favourite pastime of raising hornets* nests.

Poor Matthew was made into Albuquerque's scapegoat by
these three. They seized upon the wretched Armenian's repu-
tation and tore it to shreds. This man, said they, was never sent
by Prester John. An Abyssinian should be black, as everybody
knew, and Matthew was quite white. He was nothing but a
Moslem spy in the service of Egypt; his morals were unspeak-
able; his credentials were forged. If Afonso de Albuquerque
had not been so puffed up with pride he would have seen
through the imposition. He had simply let himself be diddled
by this manl Such tales were spread till Cannanore bubbled
with righteous indignation, and the Moslem traders of that
port were only too happy to fan the fire.

The women of Matthew's establishment were also brought
into the intrigue. It seems certain that he was not an ideal
husband, and between him and his wife ( or wives ) there was
little love. If she would testify against him, one of them was
told, the Governor would send Matthew to the stake and have
her married to a Portuguese. This dazzling prospect drew the
lady, for the conquering strangers enjoyed a huge success
among the fair ones of the Orient. Wife and slaves joined in
the conspiracy against their lord.

It was Matthew himself, however, who put the fat into the
fire by threatening to beat one of his women one fine day. She

80

The Odyssey of Matthew

promptly retaliated by screaming out for all to hear that this
man really was a spy and every evil thing that had been said

Jorge de Melo and his friends rushed to the spot. They
drew up documents and signed indictments. The truth was
out at last, they cried. The villain was unmasked!

"Our Lord has been pleased to awaken the understanding
of Jorge de Melo and his friends that they might know the
truth about this dog . . " piously exclaims one who signs
himself Joao Afonso de Azevedo 8 in a letter to the King. But
no message was dispatched to Goa to enlighten the deluded
understanding of the Governor.

Was he indeed deluded? some people hinted darkly. He
knew about it all the time! asserts Caspar Pereira, who also
hastened to write home this spicy bit of news. The Governor
had hushed up the swindle to gain credit for himself. It
seemed a great thing to send the King an ambassador from
the long-sought and elusive Prester John. "He says that for
this service done Your Highness will make him a count**

No attempt was therefore made to shatter Albuquerque's
alleged illusions before he sailed for the Red Sea, nor did they
dare to disobey the orders he had sent to Cannanore concern-
ing the ambassador. "Xet the chastisement of his villainy rest
with Your Highness," Matthew's accusers enjoined the King,
and then embarked the criminal after the manner that the
Governor commanded

A document informs us how fifty planks and three hundred
rtflflg were supplied to make a store-cupboard and chicken-
coop adjoining Matthew's cabin, and that four kitchen basins
were provided him as well as a hatchet, a spit for roasting,
and two loaves of soap.* THe was given a big cabin," writes
Albuquerque's secretary, Caspar Correa, 10 "in which he and
his women and servants were well accommodated/* This was
on board the ship commanded by Bemaldim Freire, a feather-
pated youth who swallowed every tale that he was told about
his passenger.

Poor Matthew had an awful voyage to Portugal. Bemaldim

SI

The Land of Prester John

Freire, assisted by Francisco Pereira, made a nightmare of
his life. They cast him into irons at MoQambique. They boxed
his ears and plucked his beard, abused him as a Turkish spy
who had deceived that fool Afonso de Albuquerque, and
finally appropriated to themselves his wife and slaves. 11

If , as all contemporaries affirm, it was merely to spite the
Governor that his enemies behaved like this, it was an extraor-
dinarily stupid intrigue. For the fact remained that Matthew
really had been sent by Queen Helena and carried with him
genuine letters. In Portugal, when he presented his creden-
tials to the King, their authenticity was recognized at once.

Dom Manuel was overjoyed. Prester John at lastl The King
"received the cross upon his knees, with tears in his eyes,
thanking God for bestowing such a gift upon him as weU as
letters and ambassadors from so great a long as that of Abys-
sinia, so remote and far distant from Europe. . . ." 12 Mat-
thew was welcomed as a heaven-sent messenger. Dom Manuel
wrote at once to Rome about his glad arrival, and the despised
Armenian now became the hero of an ecstatic correspondence
between the Holy Father and the King.

We can imagine how awkward all this was for Bernaldim
Freire and Francisco Pereira. Some say that they escaped to
Castile, others that the King imprisoned them in Lisbon
castle. It is certain that Albuquerque's enemies had over-
reached themselves for once.

He himself, meanwhile, knew nothing of what had occurred
at Cannanore. No one told him until five months later when
on the island of Kamaran in the Red Sea. "I was," he wrote
the King, "the most astonished man on earth." Why should
doubt be thrown upon the veracity of Matthew's mission?
Certainly not because he had travelled in Moslem disguise.
Had not Joao Gomes done the same, and his companions?
There was no other way of entering or leaving Abyssinia. "If
they wish to go out through Zeila, Zeila belongs to Moors. If
they wish to pass by Dahlak, Dahlak is Moorish, and if they

82

The Odyssey of Matthew

want to leave by the island of Sualan, SuaMn is also of the
Moors. . . ."

That Prester John should desire to communicate with
Portugal was nothing strange. An alliance would be to their
mutual interest. Albuquerque admits that he did not overhaul
the envoy's papers to ascertain their authenticity, but then:
"It is not for me to cross-examine ambassadors from kings
and princes of these parts when they are on their way to you,
nor to open their letters and instructions without a special
warrant, signed and sealed by you, authorizing me to do so."

As for the suggestion that the man might be a spy from
Cairo why on earth should the Soldan seek information in
such a devious and complicated manner? "I have men from
Cairo constantly about me, and every day they come with
merchandise from overland." And if it was Lisbon that the
enemy desired to spy upon: "Are there not in Portugal scores
of Venetians, Italians, Florentines, Genoese, and men of other
nationalities who have continual dealings with Alexandria
and Cairo?"

When, however, on his return to India, Albuquerque in-
quired into the origin of all the trouble, he ceased to wonder
much. "The Lord knows that all this disorder was worked up
in the belief that they were hitting me direct." He was used
to such tricks from Caspar Pereira, and: "I am not surprised at
Francisco Pereira doing what he did, for he bears me a grudge
. . . besides which, Senhor, he is a very trying man." As for
Francisco's travelling companion: *1 am not surprised at Ber-
naldim Freire, for he is young, and anybody can lead him
astray."

It was a relief to learn that the ambassador had been re-
ceived with honour by the King. Albuquerque was much pre-
occupied with Prester John since his return from the Red Sea.
That voyage had not been wholly a success. Aden had not
been captured in the one assault attempted as the fleet passed
by. Shortage of water on the ships had left no time to repeat

33

The Land of Prestcr John

the attack, and lack of wind had made it quite impossible to
reach Suez. But Albuquerque had not wasted a minute of the
three months and a half that he had spent in the Red Sea. He
had made careful observations, he had acquired much useful
information, and the appearance of the Portuguese in those
waters had shaken the Moslem world with fear. Albuquerque
intended that their terror should be justified in the near fu-
ture. He had his plan of campaign ready, which he expounded
to the King.
Prester John was an important figure in the scheme.

34

A Dream in the Desert

1 he dreary island of Kamaran, **all flat and almost level with
the sea," twisted its stunted mangroves within sight of the
Arabian coast. The steaming swamps were lost in hot dry
sand drifting beside abandoned mosques and large stone
buildings that were stately once, erected, it was said, by mer-
chants who in days gone by had traded with the land or" Pres-
ter John for gold. No one knew when or how or why the town
had died; but as a commercial centre Kamaran had ceased to
be, and its halls were deserted. In the shadow of the noble
ruins a few Arabs built their shacks, for there was water on
the island still, and tufts of grass. The dwellers on the desert
mainland brought goats and camels there to graze and sup-
plied provisions to passing ships.

In the sheltered port of Kamaran, which looks towards
Arabia, Albuquerque's fleet had hung at anchor for eight
weeks from May till July 1513. All day long a hot wind blew
feebly across the sea from the Sudan; at night a still more
burning breeze moved down the desert coast some leagues
away. The east wind, which could have borne the fleet to Jidda
or Suez, had taken them to Kamaran and ceased to blow.
Twice the fleet had left the island on the wings of a deceitful
breeze that died at once, leaving the ships to float between
the sandbanks and desert isles. Their sails flapped drearily

The Land of Prcster John

to fitful puffs from the north-west. Neither bark, nor boat, nor
bird flitted across the dead horizon. The shining sea was trans-
parent and very still.

A sailing-ship within the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb between
April and July was rather like a creature in a cage. She could
not navigate up channel on the north-west winds prevailing
at that season, nor could she sail out of the Red Sea into the
monsoon. There was nothing for it but to stay at Kamaran,
and there the Portuguese careened their ships. They fed upon
stray camels left upon the island, they cast their nets for fish,
and caught and ate the weirdly bright-blue or green crabs
that swam in the translucent water. They whiled away the
time by playing chess or cards, and every day they saw their
comrades die. The summer months at Kamaran were not
healthful for Europeans.

While his men counted the days, and cursed their fate, their
commander discussed the land of Prester John with an inter-
esting prisoner who introduced himself as Lord of Massawa
and Sheik of Dahlak. This elderly and distinguished-looking
"Moor," captured with a nephew at Kamaran, seems to have
had plenty to say about himself and others. He airily explained
his own presence on the island by the fact that he had killed
his cousin's father. The cousin, not unnaturally incensed, had
obtained assistance from the Sheik of Aden, and so dislodged
the Sheik of Dahlak from his lauds and sent him into exile
across the sea.

Albuquerque and the Sheik appear to have entertained each
other very well during their stay at Kamaran. Having been
forcibly ejected from the opposite coast, the Sheik had no
secrets to keep about those parts and answered every question
asked with a grim satisfaction. The island of Massawa, he
said, was so dose to the Abyssinian mainland that "a man
could shout and be heard on the other shore," and the Sheik
had all his life had intercourse with the Ethiopians of the
coast He was so informative that Albuquerque proposed
sending him to Portugal along with other prisoners, but on

86

A Dream in the Desert

their way to India the man died. His nephew, "who knows the
language of Prester John and that of Dahlak," was dispatched
to the King instead, together with an Arab pilot whose wife
and children lived at Jidda "a marvellous man, by whom
Your Highness may be better informed."

Two genuine Abyssinians were also added to the collec-
tion of distinguished foreigners gathered in the Red Sea and
sent home for the information of His Highness. Abyssinian
slaves poor simple wretches kidnapped by Arab traders in
the hinterland of Massawa were common enough in India,
but these two men were educated Abyssinians. Ttiey had been
pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem when they were taken
prisoner by the Moslems of Suakin. Having escaped, they
joined the Portuguese at Aden, and Albuquerque easily per-
suaded them to visit Portugal instead of Palestine. 'They are
men versed in our doctrine,** he tells the King; "one of them
knows how to write his language very well, and I also send
Your Highness an Abyssinian youth who was slave of the
Soldan's factor at Jidda. I send him as interpreter for the two
others, who cannot speak Arabic, which he speaks very well,
besides the language of his own country. 9 "

With information gleaned from such as these, added to his
own observations, Albuquerque studied the political prob-
lems of the Red Sea. For Portuguese supremacy in those wa-
ters, he told the King, all that was necessary would be to
occupy Aden and Massawa.

The shores of the Red Sea in 1513 had many masters, some
nominal and others real. On the African side, from Bab-el-
Mandeb up to Suakin was theoretically subject to Prester
John. In practice, however, the Emperor's authority was
slight over the Moslem tribes that occupied long stretches of
the coast. They paid him tribute, it is true; but Abyssinia, hav-
ing no navy, could not control a single port

shores above, where roamed wild tribes of Bedouin, belonged
to the Soldan of Egypt The only town upon this coast was the

ST

The Land of Prester John

abandoned city of Kosseir, "with ruined churches bearing
signs of crosses on their walls, and Greek inscriptions that
appear to indicate that it was once inhabited by Christians/*

Suez was the Soldan's chief port and naval base. There in
his shipyards lay the half-finished ships that were intended to
eject the Portuguese from India. The Soldan could not look
forward to the realization of this pleasant hope in the imme-
diate future, however, for the wood destined to build his fleet
had been captured at Rhodes by the Knights of St. John.

Egyptian rule on the Arabian side of the Red Sea extended
as far south as Jidda, the port at which the faithful disem-
barked to visit Mecca. The Sheriff of Jidda and Mecca, who
held the desert inland, "may have three hundred horsemen
and no more, and some of these are Bedouin mounted on
camels." South of Jidda was the Sheriff of Jizem "six hun-
dred horse, no more" and from Kamaran to the mouth of
the Straits was the dominion of the Sheik of Aden.

After the Soldan, the great power of the Red Sea was indis-
putably the Sheik of Aden. Not only was he Lord of the Gulf,
but, thanks to his intervention at Dahlak, he controlled all
those islands. The Sheik of Aden had not given his help for
nothing, and the exile of Kamaran's usurping cousin had
gained little but a barren title with his revenge. He was al-
lowed to live at Massawa on a pension while the Sheik of
Aden placed a servant of his own to collect the revenues of
the pearl fisheries that lay all around the islands of Massawa
and Dahlak. These revenues were considerable, for Arabs
came in djelbas to fish there from all parts of the coast, and,
added to the duties that they paid, the first and last two days
of each man's fishing belonged entirely to the island lord.

It was Aden that supported Zeila, just outside the Straits:
The Lord of Zeila and Berbera is a very small thing he can-
not have two hundred horse; he is maintained by charitable
offerings from the hinterla$d of Aden and those parts, be-
cause he makes continual war upon the Christians of Prester
John."

88

A Dream in the Desert

The Sheik of Aden could afford to spend his money upon
such pious works for, between the pearls of Dahlak and the
port of Aden, he must have been doing very well.

Aden [Albuquerque informs the King] has become a great port
since Your Highness entered India, because your fleet prevents the
ships of Jidda and Mecca from navigating at the proper season. As
they leave late, they cannot enter the Straits and have to discharge
their merchandise at Aden. They sell it there and buy other goods
that are brought there from Jidda and those parts, and the mer-
chants of Aden send the goods to Jidda later on in their ships. In
Aden are many merchants from Cairo who have great riches in the
town. Many merchants from Jidda have also come to live at Aden
because their ships cannot reach the port of Jidda at the right time.
For this reason Aden has grown much more important than it used
to be. It is reputed to be the wealthiest place out here; most of the
gold of Prester John goes into Aden, and all merchandise from the
land of Prester John.

Aden commands the mouth of the Straits, and all the ships of
India on their way to Jidda pass by Aden during the months of
November, December, and January and February. . . .

The strategic advantages of holding such a place were ob-
vious, besides which **Your ships would have a marvellous port
there, sheltered from every wind thus a fortress at Aden
would be a sound and profitable thing.**

Equally sound and profitable would be the fortress at Mas-
sawa. A territorial base was necessary for a permanent naval
force to be maintained in the Red Sea, and that was where the
land of Prester John came in. The "men like unto the sands of
the sea," so lavishly offered by Queen Helena, are not the
foundation on which Albuquerque's calculations are drawn
up; he had lived in the Orient quite long enough to know what
value might be set upon figures of speech. The Abyssinians,
he says, "are renowned as very brave, and esteemed by the
Moors, who know them to be valiant men." Their help would
no doubt come in useful to the garrison of Massawa, but he
lays no special stress on the man-power of Abyssinia,

The Land of Prester John

Massawa "would be a good port for our ships, because it
touches the land of Prester John, is the principal port of his
country, and replete with provisions, and reinforcements of
men if necessary, or any other thing that we might need. . . /*
The Portuguese could also barter pepper and other Indian
merchandise for gold from Abyssinia, and exploit the pearl
fisheries of DahlaL

He [the Sheik of Dahlak] told me that Prester John had often
tried to gain the island of Massawa, but had no means of crossing
over. He had akeady attempted to fill up the arm of the sea be-
tween the island and the mainland, but could not Moreover, he
told me that Prester John greatly desired to see us and have inter-
course with us and he believed that if a captain of Your Highness
went there with the fleet, Prester John would come to visit him in
person, and to see Your Highness's ships.

A Portuguese fortress at Massawa, backed by the power of
Prester John, would dominate the whole of the Red Sea to the
Soldan's complete undoing. "AH the riches of the world will
be in your hands," Albuquerque tells Dom Manuel. Besides
the gold and pearls to be collected, there would be no more
leaking out of spices to the West through Moslem channels,
"and you could moreover prevent any merchandise from
Cairo and those ports from entering India except in your
ships." As for the Egyptian navy sole menace to Portuguese
supremacy in Eastern waters "Once we have gained a foot-
ing in the Red Sea, the smallest fleet that visits Suez, if any-
thing is breeding there, can burn as many ships as they can
launch before they are armed or equipped/*

As a seaman Albuquerque was fully aware that the type of
vessel designed for sailing the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean
was unsuitable for permanent service in the Red Sea. The
sixteenth-century Portuguese nau, with her towering super-
structure, her enormous square sails, and depth of keel requir-
ing at least three fathoms to float safely, was the most awk-
ward thing to navigate among the shoals and shallows of those

40

Indian Ocean

RELATIONSHj OF PORTUGUESE INDIA TO THE LAND OF PRESTER JOHN

A Dream in the Desert

land-locked waters. "If the Lord please that we should estab-
lish ourselves on the Red Sea," writes Albuquerque, "and ex-
plode this menace of Suez and the Soldan's fleet, Your High-
ness must exchange the square-rigged ships for galleys, with
perhaps three or four naus among them. Galleys," he explains,
"can be beached and repaired anywhere, and enter any place."

This question, however, could be studied later. The first
steps to be taken were "to settle the afFair of Aden, and build
a fortress at Massawa. ... I should fortify myself in those
two places," he advises the King, "and spread no further for
the present until these two things are settled."

After that, there was no limit to the possibilities! One need
only look around and take one's choice:

Once Your Highness has a base in the land of Prester John, you
can decide what you want to do with Zeila, Perhaps Prester John
would like you to destroy it, but, having a fortress at Aden, we
shall have to draw provisions from Berbera and Zeila, for Aden
is supplied from there with corn, butter, sheep, maize, and
honey. . . .

As for the island of Suakin ... it will be useful for the gold
that comes not through it ... fifty men can hold the place quite
easily.

Zeila and Suakin were mere side issues Jidda was more
important. Once Massawa was Portuguese, however, then
Jidda would be theirs:

For neither spice, nor merchandise, nor food could reach it from
outside, and if the Soldan would maintain a garrison, he could not
feed die men, for he would have no source of supply; whereas
Your Highness can hold the place and draw provisions from the
land of Prester John, just opposite.

Prester John would also furnish the Portuguese witib mounts
*there are many good horses in the land of Prester John."
These could be shipped across to Jidda, and in one lightning
raid their riders would burn Mecca to the ground. To destroy
Mecca strikes Albuquerque as very easy, nor would many

41

The Land of Prester John

men be necessary to do the deed. The Sheriff was not power-
ful, and in Mecca itself were no men-at-arms, only a few
devotees "with henna-stained nails, and rosaries in their
hands." Nor was Egypt likely to help the holy city, for

the succour the Soldan could send to Mecca would not be much.
He has seven thousand horsemen within his fortress, which has a
wider enclosure than that of Evora. He will not part with any of
these, for they are his bodyguard, and every now and then some of
those alguazils who succeed to the throne attack them and thrust
them out. His Emirs, which are his chief captains, will not give up
any of their own men, nor yet themselves leave Cairo. Neither the
Lord of Damascus, nor that of Aleppo and those other fortresses
near Shah Ismail's frontiers would leave them unprotected. There-
fore it seems to me that the Soldan might send a thousand horse,
and to provide those for the march would mean ten thousand
camels and a constant supply of provisions from Cairo, which
would be very difficult to organize from such a distance. But let us
say that he sends two thousand horse could not five or six hun-
dred Portuguese, on a good day and in a fortunate hour, fight
against two or three thousand Moorish horsemen and defeat them
and put them all to flight? And if it seemed to us that there was
any risk about it, there are so many good horses in the land of
Prester John that it would be an easy thing to mount a thousand
Portuguese, the more so that the passage is so short. ... I have
in mind greater things than these that we could do if once we gain
a footing there, and make alliance with the land of Prester John.

He did not forget that Abyssinia held the upper reaches of
the Nile. Therein lay certain victory over Egypt:

If the King our Lord would send out some of those engineers
wfco make cuttings through the mountains of Madeira, they could
divert the flood of the Nile and turn it aside from watering the
lands of Cairo thus in two years Cairo would be undone, and
the whole country ruined. . . .

A thrust at Islam such as Albuquerque proposed would
have meant the deliverance of Christendom from the spectre
that had haunted it for seven centuries. To understand the full

42

A Dream in the Desert

significance of that we must view it through the eyes of those
who lived four hundred years ago, when the capture of Con-
stantinople by the Turks was still a living memory. Panic-
mongers in modern times have talked about the yellow peril,
but the Moslem menace to Europe of that day was no alarm-
ist's scare. It was a palpitating and hideous reality. Pressing
hard on the confines of Christendom all through the Middle
Ages were the dreaded scimitars wielded by Moor, Arab, or
Turk an alien race, an alien faith, an alien civilization
ever waiting to bear down and swallow up. How many times
they really had swept over, how often the fate of the Western
world had trembled in the balance, we have only to read our
history books to recollect. The tide had been held back, but
not yet turned. The great Christian empire to be built in the
East Portugal backed up by Prester John would deal the
death blow in the foeman's flank, and win the final victory for
the Cross* It is not strange that Portuguese imperialists felt
themselves to be workers on a design approved by God.

On a dark night in the Red Sea, when the fleet lay at
anchor outside the harbour, hoping for a breeze, a brilliant
cross rose in the sky and shone over tie land of Prester John-
It was clearly seen from each one of the ships, and all the men
fell on their knees. "I took it that Our Lord had sent this sign/*
wrote Albuquerque, "to show that He would have us go that
way." But still no wind arose that could have blown the fleet
over to Massawa.

Albuquerque's duties as Governor of India obliged him to
return there after the monsoon. The fleet from Portugal
reached India between August and October, and there were
all the mails to be received and answered, the homebound
fleet to be dispatched, and hundreds of other matters to be
looked into. Shortage of time to get through all the work that
rested on his shoulders handicapped Albuquerque as seri-
ously as the shortage of more material things. In 1513 he re-
turned to India from the Red Sea in September, fully deter-
mined to sail back again early the following year: "I must

43

The Land of Prester John

leave for the Straits in January," he told the King, "if any profit
is to come of it." But he found his ships were quite unfit to
navigate so soon; their wooden sides were warped and blis-
tered and burst open by the scorching sun of the Red Sea. By
great good luck all except one survived the return voyage, but
none of them could sail again without wholesale repair. That
fort of Massawa on which so much depended could not be
built just then.

The project became the fixed purpose on which Albu-
querque's mind was bent for the remaining two years of his
life. He thought of it all through 1514 in India as he took a
hand in the intricate game of Indian politics. When, in 1515,
a number of circumstances obliged him to build a fort at Or-
muz instead of sailing into the Red Sea, he only postponed
Prester John and Massawa to the next year.

**We have no unsettled question left in India now but that
of Aden and the Red Sea," he wrote from Ormuz to the King
on September 22, and: "May it please Our Lord, 3 * he says upon
another page of the same letter, "that we should fix ourselves
at Massawa the port of Prester John." By that date Albu-
querque must have realized that he himself had little chance
to do it; yet when, on November 8, desperately ill, he left the
Persian Gulf for India, it appears that he clung to his idea still
THe told me/* writes the captain of the Ormuz garrison, "that
on the 1st of January I was to send part of the fleet and men
to him for entering the Straits, . . .* If he had made any sort
of recovery, it is clear that he meant to waste no time in con-
valescing, but somehow to drag himself to Massawa and build
that f ort!

And if he had done so what then? Could the rest of his
program have been carried out? Would it have been possible
to destroy Mecca and give Egypt to the desert to change
the history of the world and alter the face of the map?

It certainly seems wild, but there was never anything of the
unpractical visionary in Albuquerque. He showed at aJQL times
a nnn grasp of fact and a kera sense of reality. Anything he

44

A Frustrated Mission

set himself to do he did, and much of what he achieved ap-
peared impossible. Whether this last scheme was workable
we speculate in vain, for the only man whose genius might
have realized the dream died at the zenith of his glory, and
the brilliant vision was extinguished with his light

A Frustrated Mission

One day at Evora so runs the tale the King, Dom Ma-
nuel, ordered a tunic to be made out of a rich Oriental cloth.

The tunic turned out a success. Dom Manuel was pleased
with his appearance when he put it on. He disported himself
in his new garment before all the courtiers, who dutifully
went into ecstasies. Duarte Galvao, the elderly historian,
alone gazed with a disapproving eye. Not thus, he observed
austerely, had Dom Manuel's predecessors on the throne of
Portugal behaved. Duty was what engrossed those kingly
minds, not dress!

Dom Manuel responded to this admonition by appointing
Duarte Galvao ambassador to Prester John upon the spot.

The tunic story may be fact or fiction, but that the sequel
was the King's revenge is certainly untrue. Court gossips
might well represent it in that light To be torn away from
the amenities of palace life and embark for the wilds of Abys-
sinia would be a grim chastisement to these butterflies, but
it is certain that Duarte Galvao did not view it so. We have it
on his own authority that there was nothing that he more
ardently desired. He felt that such an embassy would be a
unique opportunity for serving God. "I should be very happy, 9 *
he wrote to his friend Afonso de Albuquerque, "if the King
would send me," He might be rather old for an undertaking

46

A 'Frustrated Mission

of that nature, but: "There is neither old age nor weakness in
the sendee of God, so long as there are devotion and good
will. . . ."

This letter is undated, but we gather from the context that
It was written in 1513. Matthew had not yet arrived in Portu-
gal, but it was already known that he was on the way, and the
idea of an embassy to Prester John was being earnestly dis-
cussed.

The envoy's warm reception when his ship came in at last
has already been seen. For a year Matthew was entertained in
Portugal, together with his young companion, whose name
was Jacob, we are told. Receiving ambassadors was expensive
in those days. Not only had one to lodge and feed one's guests,
but to dress them as well. Dom Manuel played the host in
style. The strangers lived in luxury at his gorgeous court, and
their wardrobe was renewed every few months.

The King, meanwhile, prepared a fitting answer to his long-
sought ally Prester John. Matthew would return to Abyssinia
in the train of a fully equipped Portuguese embassy, com-
plete with present. The latter was an offering worthy of one
great king to another. To enumerate all the beautiful and
costly objects mentioned in the list that has come down to
us would take too long. It must have required a miracle of
packing, but the desirability of travelling light was not con-
sidered in those spacious days.

Chief among the rich collection figured a lordly bed a bed
of ample size we gather from the fact that the four fine linen
sheets that went with it were nearly five yards long. The
sleeper reclining upon this couch would be sheltered by blue
and yellow taffeta curtains, with a tastefully painted canopy
above. An emperor with a crown upon his head sat there
aloft, in the act of crowning a queen, while four men sounded
trumpets in the corner. Six large mattresses stuffed with me-
rino wool were provided for this super-bed; the bolsters and
the pillows, also stuffed with wool, were embroidered in gold*
For chilly nights a woollen blanket, embellished with the ar-

47

The Land of Prester John

morial bearings of Dom Manuel, was thoughtfully supplied.
The bed-cover was of yellow damask and black velvet inter-
woven with gold threads, and there was also a white embroi-
dered counterpane. As a suitable background for such a bed
were Flemish cloths of silk and gold to hang upon the bed-
room wall. Rich cushions of all kinds were added to the gift,
and a brocaded chair studded with silver nails.

Not only Prester John's bedroom but also his dining-room
was to be furnished by Dom Manuel. He had a beautiful table
made in finest marquetry for his royal brother, with a cloth of
silk and gold to spread upon it. A complete dinner-service
went with this, including knives, fruit-dishes, and several sets
of tablecloths, each over eight yards long napkins and hand-
towels as well, all embroidered in gold.

Two complete costumes "everything required to dress a
man from shirt to cloak" were likewise offered, one in silk
and gold, the second in damask; rich suits of armour, swords,
shields, harness for horses everything in gold, silver, and
finest steel.

After supplying Prester John the wherewithal to sleep,
dress, dine, and fight in dazzling elegance, his spiritual and
intellectual needs were contemplated. All things pertaining
to religious service and the complete equipment of a church
were provided: devotional pictures, candles, altar-pieces,
vestments, organs, bells, illuminated missals, and Legends of
the Saints in Portuguese. Thirty books of catechism were
moreover added, and finally a thousand children's reading-
books.

These are only a few items of Dom Manuel's tremendous
gift

It took some preparation, but there was plenty of time.
Matthew's unpleasant voyage from India had been particu-
larly long. Though he had left Cannanore in January 1513, he
only disembarked in Lisbon thirteen months later. The fleet
for India always sailed in the spring. It was too late to join the
1514 voyage, but the embassy was organized to leave the ol-

48

A Frustrated Mission

lowing year. In 1515 Duarte Galvao hoped to see his heart's
desire fulfilled. Duarte Galvao was a man of letters and his
delight took literary form. He sat down happily and penned
a stirring Exhortation, urging all men to join the holy enter-
prise of Christian expansion overseas.

The King's choice of ambassador was sound in many ways.
Duarte Galvao had experience and learning, and we have seen

JL O'

that he took a serious view of life. He had been secretary to
Afonso V and counsellor to both Dom Joao II and Dom Ma-
nuel. Foreign affairs seem to have been the special sphere of his
activity, and his diplomatic talent had been proved on more
than one occasion when he was sent on embassies to Louis
XII of France, the Emperor Maximilian, and the Pope. Ori-
ental affairs also interested him, and when, in 1500, Pedral-
vares Cabral had sailed for Calicut, the letter in Arabic and
Portuguese which he carried for the Samorin had been drafted
by Duarte Galvao.

' Against all this has to be set his age. Duarte Galvao was
seventy. A less optimistic generation might have thought he
was too old to travel so far, but the sixteenth century showed
a superb disregard for such material details. That same year
Dom Manuel was appointing to be Governor of India a man
subject to epileptic fits. If an infirmity of that kind were no
obstacle to occupying a strenuous post of high command, then
a healthy septuagenarian might well go to Abyssinia!

The other members of the Ethiopian mission were Lopo
de Vilalobos, who was to act as secretary; Louren9o de Cosmo,
in charge of the present; and the chaplain, Padre Francisco
Alvares, of later fame as the first European to write a book on
Abyssinia. Duarte Galvao's young son Jorge also went east
with him,, not as a delegate, but to serve in India, where his
brother Ruy already had spent several years.

Our friend Matthew, of course, accompanied the embassy,
as well as the boy Jacob. Each one received for parting gift
a complete new outfit of apparel: breeches, doublets, tunics,
cloaks, several pairs of shoes, slippers, and hosen; six fine

The Land of Prester John

linen shirts and six pairs of pants for Matthew, two of each for
the boy all of these garments packed in a handsome leather
trunk closed by two locks.

What had happened to Matthew's wife (or wives ) by then
we cannot say. The chronicles are silent and the documents
refer to them no more. His retinue included a number of
slaves and servants, and we now hear of an Abyssinian friar.
Where the latter had been picked up is not explained. It
seems that Matthew introduced him as a very holy man of
exalted connections in his native country.

So the two ambassadors set sail and quarrelled all the
way. It is difficult to tell whose was the fault. Perhaps we
should not blame either too severely a six months* voyage,
cramped quarters in a little ship, nothing to do, and the same
faces every day! It could be a strain on anyone's good nature,
and Matthew had a very peculiar temper, while Duarte Gal-
vao was a peppery old gentleman. To add to the general un-
pleasantness, Matthew and his holy man fell foul of each
other. This was no good Christian but a Moslem, Matthew
said, and the holy man resented the insult. Finally, by way
of climax to a disagreeable voyage, the youth Jacob became
very SI.

When the fleet came into port at Goa, matters did not im-
prove. It is important to remember that this fleet had sailed
under the command of Lopo Soares de Albergaria, an inca-
pable and rather stupid epileptic, chosen by the King to su-
persede a genius. The series of petty intrigues that had led to
his appointment as Governor of India do not concern us here.
What bore directly upon the embassy to Prester John was the
fact that Lopo Soares s sense of inferiority found expression
in a black and bitter hatred for everything connected with
his mighty predecessor. It was weD known that Albuquerque
had attached great importance to Matthew and his mission;
consequently Lopo Soares frowned on both. He appears to
have had a certain respect for Duarte Galvao, but Galvao had

50

A Frustrated Mission

been Albuquerque's friend, which was quite enough for the
new Governor to dislike him.

The fleet made the briefest call at Goa - not much longer
than was necessary for Lopo Soares to make his entry in the
town as Governor. Correct procedure would have been to wait
till Albuquerque's return from Ormuz and take over from
him, but when dealing with his rival Lopo Soares did not care
to be correct. It would be humiliating for Albuquerque to ar-
rive and find that he had been dispossessed, so Lopo Soares
assumed control at once.

While the Governor was ashore introducing himself to the
unenthusiastic Goanese, he received a letter from Duarte Gal-
vao, who had not disembarked: the Abvssinian bov was eet-
* * * c?

ting worse. Sixteenth-century ships did not cater for invalids,
and Duarte Galvao, at Matthew's request, begged Lopo
Soares to have him received into Goa hospital for treatment.
Lopo Soares took no notice at all, nor would he even trouble
to have a physician sent to the patient on board.

The fleet sailed for Cochin via Chaul and Cannanore. Poor
Jacob's condition became desperate, and between Baticala
and Cannanore he died. Matthew was devoted to the boy, and
his grief was pathetic. Duarte Galvao, irascible though he
might be, was a land soul. He forgot that he and Matthew
could not bear each other, and sat by the dying Jacob, says
Padre Francisco Alvares, "until the end, consoling the ambas-
sador and expounding to hi the doctrines of Holy Mother
Church"

The colleagues seemed completely reconciled. Jacob was
"buried honourably* at Cannanore, and Father Francisco re-
mained some days ashore with Matthew to arrange for Masses
for the dead boy's soul. Matthew decided to buy a palm grove
to endow tihe church to this effect, and had a note sent to Du-
arte Galvao on the ship requesting him to come ashore and
give advice.

All would have been quite serene if Padre Francisco had

51

The Land of Prester John

not added to the letter his petition that the Abyssinian monk,
who had also fallen very ill, should be brought ashore and
interned in the hospital.

Duarte Galvao came at once, bringing the invalid, where-
upon, to everyone's surprise, Matthew went off into a purple
fuiy. They had let Jacob die, he cried, and they would save
this Moslem monk!

"If he were either Moor or Jew," replied Duarte Galvao,
"why on earth did you bring him with you from Portugal and
say that he was such a holy man?'*

Matthe w*s answer was a burst of Arabic that the interpreter
absolutely declined to translate.

Duarte Galvao beat a dignified retreat. "When he is calmer,**
said he to the interpreter, "tell him that I withdrew to trouble
him no further." l But Matthew showed no signs of calming
down. He turned upon Padre Francisco. How had he dared
send for that monk? When Prester John heard of it, he would
have Padre Francisco cut up into dices, bit by bit, and when
Jacob's father knew, he would kill all the Portuguese!

In Portugal, remarked the interpreter reprovingly, one did
not speak fike that to one's father confessor! Whereupon the
mercurial Matthew, suddenly repentant, threw himself at the
chaplain's feet and kissed his hand, begging for his forgive-
ness and lus blessing. Father Francisco gave him both at once
like a good Christian, but to make peace with Matthew's en-
raged colleague was more difficult. There seem to have been
further passages of arms between them, for Lopo de Vilalobos,
the secretary, states that, dropping into Matthew's lodging he
found him in tears: Duarte Galvao had been calling him a
Moor, wailed Matthew, and it was a lie!

Unfortunately, there was too much time for this sort of
thing* Lopo Scares did not propose to sail for the Red Sea
before January 1517, Meanwhile the embassy was at a loose
end

It must have been a very unpleasant year in India. Every-
body seems to have been quarrelling with someone else, and

52

A Frustrated Mission

the Governor made no attempt to put things right. He himself
was in a sour temper. The triumph that he had looked for-
ward to did not come off. His enemy had indeed returned
from Onnuz in December, but the man perversely died be-
fore he disembarked! Lopo Soares felt himself foiled, and
more than ever viewed the Abyssinian delegation with a
jaundiced eye. Matthew declares" that he treated him "worse
than a captive," while Duarte Galvao complains of the Gover-
nor's curt and offhand manner towards himself. On his side,
Lopo Soares told the old man that his character was very
difficult!

Duarte Galvao was hurt. Never, said he stiffly, had such a
thing been suggested before! Three kings of Portugal had he
served and he had had dealings with many others of Christen-
dom, to say nothing of emperors and popes. Never had any
of these exalted personages found him otherwise than easy to
get on with. "I rise and depart, 9 * said he majestically, **happy
in the esteem in which the aforesaid princes have ever held

Beyond this consoling thought he found solace in the study
of the Abyssinian alphabet, two copies of which he made out
for Dom Manuel. "I am very pleased with them,** he writes,
"and so will Your Highness be when you see them." His en-
thusiasm for his mission remained quite undamped. He told
the King that he had never been so keen on any other, "though
this one is more difficult and I am olden . . *

When 1517 at last came round he was one of the minority
who did not embark plunged in profoundest gloom. The Red
Sea cruise was organized with two objectives: to land the em-
bassy upon the African coast and then to seek out and fight
the Turkish fleet wherever it might be. This was the year
when Salman Rais, the Turkoman, embarked on his career of
conquest. Already his men were occupying the Red Sea ports
and building themselves ships. The veterans of HwKa had not
the least objection to fighting the Turk; the trouble was that
they did not wish to go with Lopo Soares. As one of their num-

53

The Land of Prcstcr John

her has set on record: The men of India had no pleasure in
serving under Lopo Soares, seeing that he was hostile to
everything connected with Afonso de Albuquerque, whom
they all loved with all their hearts."

It would have been difficult to love Lopo Soares. They say
that he seldom spoke to anyone, and when he did, it was un-
graciously. His subordinates in India acted much as they liked
one gentleman even took possession of a ship and set up as
a pirate on his own account but in the Governor's presence
no man might sit, nor cover his head save on the rare occa-
sions when requested so to do. This, Lopo Soares felt, was
discipline!

The men of India were not used to being treated like that
The late Governor had never hedged himself round with such
ritual. He had ruled them with a rod of iron and worked them
off their feet, but he had always been their comrade none the
less, and even his enemies admit that he had pleasant man-
ners. He had been a martinet, no doubt, but he was a martinet
with a sense of humour, and though his rebukes were wither-
ing, they also made one laugh. In Lopo Soares there was not
a gleam cf fun. He was a stick, and very disagreeable.

Duarte Galvao, thrilled to the core at the prospective fulfil-
ment of his sacred mission, thought it a pity that anyone
should sail reluctantly. He caused his Exhortation to be circu-
lated in the fleet, to see if that would cheer them up. It was,
one reader observes admiringly, **a very substantial treatise,
setting forth the praise and honour due to the conquerors of
India . . . and the great merit before God of those who lost
their lives in such a war. . . ? Duarte Galvao was a historian,
and noble examples from the past flowed from his pen. None
of these, he affirmed, were equal to the achievements in India,
which were miraculous, the greatest in the world, and brought
about by God! The effect of this disquisition upon the temper-
amental souls who read it was dynamic. A flame of enthusi-
asm leaped in every breast **because the happenings in India
being quite modem and of recent memory, many felt that

54

A Frustrated Mission

these praises applied to them." In a happy glow of self-satis-
faction, retrospective and prospective, all' put out to sea,

As for Matthew, he sailed in an angelic frame of mindL Be-
fore embarking he had sought out Duarte Galvao and "begged
to be forgiven for the love of God." They ought to be good
friends, said Matthew, since they were bound on such a holy
errand Father Francisco's words, no doubt; the good priest
seems to have been working hard in the interests of peace
between the two ambassadors, for "both are my spiritual sons,"
says he benignly. Duarte Galvao agreed to draw a veil over
the past, but he and Matthew wisely embarked on different
ships. Padre Francisco, at Duarte Galvao's request, went with
his fiery penitent, "so that I might consolidate their friend-
ship."

It was a good thing for poor Matthew that the chaplain
remained by him. The ship's captain, a nephew of Lopo
Scares, showed himself worthy of his charming uncle by be-
ing unpleasant to his passenger. More than once Padre Fran-
cisco intervened to prevent the Armenian's being cheated of
his rations. Despite such provocation, Matthew's advance in
grace continued to surprise his ghostly father: "He who used
to be like a furious lion now showed himself as gentle as a
lamb." After all, said Matthew philosophically, he would be
at home in a few weeks. It hardly was worth while to make
a fuss.

Before entering the Straits, the fleet halted at Aden. The
Sheik was panic-stricken when he saw so many ships thirty-
eight sailing all together! The fleet that had passed in 1513
was not much over half that size. He sent a messenger on
board at once with the keys of the town to offer to Lopo
Soares.

Lopo Soares waved them aside with many thanks. He had
no time, said he, to go into this matter. All that he wanted
now were pilots and provisions. On his return from the Red
Sea he would be happy to accept the town.

The fiddgos gasped, the messenger was just a little stag-

55

The Land of Prester John

gered and Af onso de Albuquerque must have turned in his
grave!

The Sheik could scarcely believe in his luck. He sounded
trumpets and lit bonfires on the hills. He covered the sea with
boatloads of provisions for the fleet and sent them all the pilots
that they required. Thus they were speeded on their way and
the Sheik no doubt thumbed his nose when he saw them
depart.

Red Sea navigation was never easy for deep-draught sail-
ing-ships. Albuquerque had f ound too little wind, Lopo Soares
encountered too much. To make matters worse, against the
advice of the pilots, he refused to anchor by night The whole
fleet nearly came to grief in consequence, and one smaller
boat completely vanished. Some forty men, including Duarte
Galvao's son Jorge, had been on board. It was surmised that
they had run aground and might yet reappear, but for Jorge's
rather the suspense was cruel.

Following this loss the old ship Fr 61 da Rosa broke in two.
The crew was rescued, but some valuable artillery remained
on board. It was suggested to the Governor that a ship go
alongside and save it. "Tonight/* answered Lopo Soares.
"However/* says Caspar Correa, "the ship did not wait till
then, but sank.*

Meanwhile the ship Sao Pedro, with Father Francisco and
Matthew, had dropped behind and then been blown away.
TTiey found themselves entangled among the reefs and islands
between Suakin and Dahlak. They remained three weeks be-
fore this island, not knowing what had happened to the rest
of the fleet.

At Dahlak Matthew had the pleasure of meeting several
acquaintances, both Christian and Moslem. He seems to have
enjoyed his own prestige as envoy newly returned from the
court of the great King of Portugal, and he let his public know
that a magnificent present was on its way to Prester John. In
spite of all this he urged the captain not to stay at Dahlak.
Ine inhabitants, he said, were treacherous and unsafe. Let

56

A Frustrated Mission

them anchor rather near Arkiko, whence they could get into
touch with the Bahr Nagach who ruled the land near the sea-
coast for Prester John. Padre Francisco volunteered to go and
seek that dignitary himself with a few others. The captain,
however, like his uncle, was determined to pay no attention
to anything that Matthew might suggest.

Two caravels appeared about this time, one of them in
charge of Lourengo de Cosmo. The Governor had sent them
to reconnoitre the coast. The captain of Sao Pedro, anxious to

fet rid of Matthew, promptly transferred him to Lourengo
e Cosmo's ship and sailed to join his uncle's fleet at Kamaran.
Matthew, left behind under protest, continued to urge
Lourengo de Cosmo and the other captain not to stay at Dah-
lak. They preferred to listen to the slippery Grenadine inter-
preter who came with them, and arranged that they should
land and parley with the Sheik of the island. Matthew refused
to disembark with them, and therein showed that he was wise.
Lourengo de Cosmo and two others were killed, while the
rest managed to escape. Admitting too late that the Armenian
had been right, the survivors sailed back to Kamaran.

Matthew's colleague had not been having a more satisfac-
tory time. Duarte Galvao's ship had continued to follow the
fleet, and Lopo Soares announced that Jidda was his first ob-
jective. It was suggested that the fleet was short of water and
it might be well to take on supplies at Kamaran before pro-
ceeding farther, but the Governor scouted the idea. Were not
the Turks installed at Jidda with eighteen newly-built galleys?
Lopo Soares would not turn back for anything until he had
burned those Turkish ships! They were no true knigjhts, but
Jews and cowards, who would do otherwise. To Jidda he
would go!

And to Jidda he went, full sail. There were the Turks all
rigjht, also the galleys, and plenty of artillery besides, which
fired on the ships as they zigzagged into port. Regardless of
the fire, the fleet manoeuvred in and out of the sandbanks and
narrow channels, while the Turks looked on amazed at such

57

The Land of Prester John

The

fidalgos waited breathlessly for their commander to propound
to them his plan of attack

Three days passed. The fleet lay at anchor in the port of
Jidda. The Portuguese looked at the Turks, who watched
them with interest. Absolutely nothing happened. Then, one
fine morning, signalling to his fleet to follow, Lopo Soares
calmly sailed away. The captains swore and cursed, Duarte
Galvao remonstrated, while the Turks howled with joy. Fer-
nao Gomes de Lemos, who had fought with elephants at
Malacca, disregarded the command and hung behind. He
started firing at the galliot nearest to him, but the galliot sim-
ply fled, so Fernao Gomes got no fun.

Lopo Soares locked himself up in his cabin. "Go away and
do not disturb me!" he told Duarte Galvao. But acoustics are
good on wooden ships, and the old-timers waxed reminiscent
just outside his door. Lopo Soares could hear the most wither-
ing comparisons drawn between him and his predecessor.

Duarte Galvao supposed that now, at any rate, the embassy
would be escorted to the opposite coast, but Lopo Soares said
that it would be imprudent to divide the fleet. On the other
hand, to leave the Red Sea was impossible, the monsoon sea-
son having started in the Indian Ocean. They therefore made
for Kamaran a nightmare voyage.

The water supply had all but given out. A quarter of a pint
was each man's daily allowance, and that in a blazing heat
"that burned men's bodies up." They died cursing the Gover-
nor for dragging them to Jidda uselessly.

The dismal island of Kamaran was welcomed as a haven of
salvation. Water was there! Men, half crazy with thirst and
heat, threw themselves bodily into the blessed element, and
lingered in it "until they fell and died."

Following the agony of sailing thirsty over a burning sea
came that of starvation on the desert sand. Kamaran had been
described as purgatory m 1513, but this year it was heJL On

58

A Frustrated Mission

the previous occasion there had been at least camels to eat.
This time the island offered absolutely nothing. One small
ration of boiled rice was dealt out daily, and men had to
subsist on that. In 1513 Albuquerque had succeeded in ob-
taining occasional provisions from the Yemen coast. Lopo
Soares tried to do the same, but failed. "Return to Jidda!" he
was told derisively. That absurd performance was the joy of
all the sheiks by the Red Sea. Never was a commander's pres-
tige more completely gone. Lopo Soares scarcely dared to
come ashore, his own men cursed him so. They wrote insults
upon the walls, and swam out to his ship at night merely to
shout abuse. They had endured hardship before, but never
without glory. It was bitter to have been brought to such a
pass merely to look like fools.

Thus the long, empty days passed by while starving men
gasped out their lives beneath a blazing sky, before a sea
of brass.

And Duarte Galvao, the scholarly intellectual, the coun-
sellor of kings, who had so gladly sacrificed the ease of his
declining years to link up Christendom with Prester John?
He who had come so far in pursuit of a dream now saw it
dying with himself upon the arid shores of Kamaran. He
waited for news of his son, which never came, and he waited
to be sent upon a mission that was not to be fulfilled. He
begged Lopo Soares to let him cross to Massawa, but the
Governor refused. He did dispatch the caravels to recon-
noitre, as has been seen; but he would not allow the ambassa-
dor to go with them. When Lourengo de Cosmo had re-
ported, he said, then Duarte Galvao might go.

A day came when the old man gave up hope. His son was
lost for ever, and he himself would not see Prester John. He
had travelled aH that weary way merely to die of grief on
this forsaken isle.

Father Francisco arrived at Kamaran shortly before the
end. "Padre," said Duarte Galvao, "you ask me how I am, but
you do not tell me of the death of my son!**

59

The Land of Prcster John

"Sir,** answered the good priest, "if God please, he may be
at some port of the country from which we have come/*

"I am far more certain," said the dying man, "that he and all
those on his ship are now in paradise, where Our Lord will in
His mercy surely take them, since they died in His service and
that of the King."

Duarte Galvao joined his son on June 9, and he was buried
in the sand at Kamaran. Nine years later Padre Francisco
disinterred his bones, and they were carried back to Portugal.

Lopo Soares saw himself relieved of the necessity of going
to Massawa. It is true that he still had Matthew on his hands,
but he did not mean to trouble about him. He sent word to
the Armenian that he might be left at Aden, Berbera, or Zeila.
Matthew declared quite truly that at none of these Moslem
ports was it safe for him to land. On his side he suggested
three alternatives: if Lopo Soares did not wish to send him
over to Arkiko, let him then return to India, or remembering
the good time he had enjoyed there to Portugal! The Gov-
ernor permitted him to remain with the fleet, but announced
that he would leave him at Ormuz.

On the return voyage Lopo Soares attacked and burned
Zeila, to feel that he had done something after all. He called
at Aden once again, but the obliging offer of five months be-
fore was not renewed. The fleet seems to have dispersed about
this time. There was great shortage of food and drink and
*each captain went to seek for both where he thought fit."
Their commander made no attempt to round them up. Times
had changed since they went cruising under Albuquerque,
when the fleet was counted from the flagship masthead every
morning and no unit dared to venture out of sight!

Padre Francisco landed together at Cochin sole members
of a mission that had fizzled out. Duarte Galvao, the prin-
cipal, lay in a solitary grave at Kamaran, Louren9o de Cosmo
had been beheaded at Dahlak. Lopo de Vflalobos, the only
one of the party who appears to have been in the Governor's

80

A Frustrated Mission

good books, was sent home to explain what had occurred as
plausibly as could be managed.

Padre Francisco Alvares remained at Cochin awaiting or-
ders from the King. "I beg Your Highness/' he writes, "if you
send another message to Prester John, that I may not be left
behind."

Poor Matthew was not very happy nor well treated, but,
says Father Francisco, "he was much consoled by the letters
from Your Highness which I read to him even* day."

As for the present the magnificent and multifarious pres-
ent, consisting of such exquisite works of art, and estimated at
a value of more than 30,000 cruzados in the damp heat of
the tropics it rotted away. "All was lost through the fault of
Lopo Scares," says Caspar Correa, "and Lopo Soares never
paid for it"I

61

The Improvised Embassy

(jive a dog a bad name and hang him, says the proverb. It
may well be cited in poor Matthew's case. The charge of be-
ing a false ambassador, first invented by Caspar Pereira for
ulterior motives, continued to shadow his career. In spite of
all proofs to the contrary, people would persist in doubting
him. Even Dom Manuel, by whom he had been received with
open arms and treated as an honored guest, is said by some to
have expressed misgivings about Matthew, The only persons,
in fact, who had always seemed quite certain that he was
genuine were Padre Francisco Alvares, who heard him in con-
fession, and Albuquerque, who seldom, if ever, failed to size
up any man correctly. But the first of these two had little
power to help, and the second was dead.

Matthew tells the King that Lopo Soares gave him poison
at Cochin. *My Lord, you are a saint," he writes entreatingly,
"and you know everything. Do not give ear to Lopo Soares,
since he tried to loll me, which God did not permit.'* Matthew
had an excitable imagination. It is unlikely that Lopo Soares
really attempted to poison him, but it is certain that the Gov-
ernor made his life unpleasant. The wretched ambassador
must have been delighted when Diogo Lopes de Sequeira
came to take Lopo Soares's place at the end of 1518.

Diogo Lopes had not much more confidence in Matthew

The Improvised Embassy

than most people had. All the same, he was quite willing to
repatriate him, and in 1520 took him with the fleet to the
Red Sea.

At the time that Diogo Lopes had left Portugal, Duarte
Galvao was supposed to be in Abyssinia. The new Governor
was therefore under orders to proceed to Massawa and learn
what answer Prester John had given to Dom Manuel's mes-
sage. We do not know what fresh instructions the King sent
out when he heard of Duarte Galvao's death and the com-
plete collapse of the embassy. Whatever they were, Diogo
Lopes sailed for the Straits on January 8, 1520, taking with
him not only Matthew but Padre Francisco Alvares, who still
was dreaming of the land of Prester John. A few of the skilled
craftsmen and musicians who had originally come out with
the delegation seem to have gone as well, all of which looks
as if the Governor had definite intentions with regard to
Abyssinia.

Like his predecessor, however, Diogo Lopes's first idea was
to reach Jidda and chastise the Turks. But this time the ca-
pricious wind of the Red Sea refused to take them there, so
the fleet fetched up at Massawa instead.

"Massawa is a very beautiful place," the Sheik of Dahlak
had informed Albuquerque at Kamaran, Perhaps it was, as
Red Sea standards went; but what the Portuguese saw on
arriving there does not answer such a description: a little bay
sheltered from every wind, and a little island with a cluster
of stone houses and a mosque. No springs of water were there,
and no wells, only twenty-two cisterns sunk into the ground
to catch the rain. The mainland could be seen close opposite,
and the village of Arkiko, consisting of straw houses fenced
around by thorns. There was another islet in tie bay, over-
grown by wild scrub and that was all there was to Mas-
sawa! Yet this port was known to be an important trade em-
porium by the shores of the Red Sea, The Arab ships, after
passing Bab-el-Mandeb, would call at Dahlak fist and
then at Massawa, where they bartered Indian produce for

65

The Land of Prestcr John

gold, ivory, butter, wax, and Abyssinian slaves kidnapped
inland.

There was no sign of such activities when Diogo Lopes's
fleet swung into harbour. Throughout the village not a crea-
ture could be seen. It might have been an island of the dead.
All the inhabitants had obviously been seized with panic and
bolted when they saw the ships appear.

Two men were discovered at last, in hiding on the smaller
island, and they were brought to Matthew, who conversed
with them in their own language, after which, slightly reas-
sured, their companions came out. We owe a grim description
of these people to Caspar Correa: they were tall and black,
with very litde on, and "from the time that they are born they
neither cut nor comb their hair, which becomes like a cap of
matted wool, and they carry oiled and pointed sticks thrust
into it with which they scratch the lice underneath, because
their fingers cannot reach the scalp, and their sole occupation,"
concludes our writer tersely, "is scratching their heads."

These unprepossessing persons told Matthew that the Bahr
Nagach was two days' journey inland. The Bahr Nagach was
the Governor who ruled the lands by the seacoast for Prester
John. A letter was dispatched immediately, informing him of
Matthew's arrival with the Portuguese. The Bahr Nagach
replied at once he would be coming very soon. Meanwhile
the local chieftain of Arkfko, wearing a burnous draped over
a Moorish shirt, rode up to pay his respects to the visitors.

Confidence being restored, the mainland woke to life. Some
seven monks appeared upon the scene. "Black and thin/* they
were, according to description, "decent men and of few
words." But they said sufficient to express their joy. They
came from the monastery of Bizan, several days* journey in-
land. The news of the arrival of a Christian fleet had filled
them with such happiness that, breaking their custom, they
had travelled during Holy Week.

The worthy men were greeted with an enthusiasm equal
to their own. There were congratulations and rejoicings aH

64

The Improvised Embassy

round. Portugal and Abyssinia wept on each other's necks,
for, says the chronicler, "no one could restrain his tears at the

tion, customs, and religious rites, should yet be joined in ties
of spiritual brotherhood by the sign of the cross, which filled
them thus with faith and love and charity."

Wiping their eyes, they adjourned to the abandoned
mosque of Massawa. This edifice was consecrated, and Portu-
guese and Abyssinians celebrated a thanksgiving Mass.

With all this poor Matthew came into his own. Those who
still persisted in believing that he was an impostor could now
observe that to these people he was a great man. The ruler of
Arkiko and the monks had greeted him with deepest rever-
ence, kissing first his hand and then his shoulder as a token
of respect. The Bahr Nagach, when he appeared, embraced
him cordially, and they talked long together. Everyone was
properly impressed. "Now all could see," says Father Fran-
cisco triumphantly, "that Matthew was a real ambassador.''
We wonder why they had been so hard to convince. At any
rate, they seem to have been glad to find themselves mistaken,
and beamed at Matthew benignly while tears of joy were
trickling down his beard. These were emotional half-hours.

The Bahr Nagach, it must be owned, was not an espe-
cially imposing figure: "Badly dressed," observes Caspar Cor-
rea, as were also the two thousand men who f oflowed him*
Matthew, no doubt, looked splendid in comparison, for he
had *noble clothes which he had brought from Portugal."
That was five years ago, but materials were more lasting in
that age and clothes remained "noble" longer than they do
today!

Diogo Lopes had pitched a lordly tent upon the beach in
which to meet his Abyssinian colleague, but the shy Ethio-
pian would not venture in, so the interview had to take place
outside. It went off very well. Each sitting on his carpet spread
upon the ground^ Diogo Lopes and the Bahr N

65

The Land of Prester John

changed compliments. Diogo Lopes spoke fluent Arabic. The
Bahr Nagach was pleasant and polite. Everyone expressed
appropriate sentiments about this happy meeting, and, each
in the name of his own country, the two principals swore
everlasting friendship on the cross. All the cannon of the fleet
then fired a joyous salvo, which might have caused a very
serious incident. A projectile fell right among the Abyssinians,
ricocheting three times. Diogo Lopes, much alarmed, apolo-
gized profusely, but fortunately no one had been hurt, and
the Bahr Nagach was not at all perturbed Safety, said he de-
voutly, depended solely on the will of God. There was a little
more amicable conversation, and the party broke up "be-
cause the heat was such that they could do nothing else."

All felt that the intercourse with Prester John had made a
good beginning, and it seemed a pity not to follow it up.
Diogo Lopes held rapid consultation with his captains. Now
that Mattihew would be really going home, an ambassador
ought to be sent with him. Everybody volunteered for this
exciting post, and so the embassy was quickly organized.

Dom Rodrigo de Lima would take Duarte Galvao's place,
with Jorge de Abreu as second fiddle. Joao Escolar would be
secretary and Joao Gon$alves treasurer to the party. A physi-
cian, Mestre Joao, was to accompany the delegation, and the
arts were represented by Lazaro de Andrade, "a good
painter,** Manuel de Mares, an organist who carried several
instruments with him, and Estevao Palhares, a skilful fencer,
besides sundry other craftsmen and mechanics. Needless to
say. Padre Francisco Alvares was chaplain and much to the
fore. TDom Rodrigo,** said the Governor, *1 am not sending
Padre Francisco Alvares with you, but you with him!**

Having improvised an embassy, it was further necessary
to raise a present, and to this end they combed the fleet. As a
result there were collected four pieces of Flemish tapestry, a
sword with golden hilt, a gold-embellished dagger, some
crimson velvet cuirasses, a helmet, and, not to forget the Em-
peror's education, "a mappamundi, for Prester John to under-

66

The Improvised 'Embassy

stand the roundness of the earth." Certainly, as Padre Fran-
cisco has remarked, this present "was not so good as that
which the King had sent out with Duarte Galvao," but that
one was "already ruined at Cochin through Lopo Scares." It
would not do to explain this to Prester John. Dom Rodrigo
was to tell him that the worthier offering had been on board
the ship Santo Antonio, which had sunk between Aden and
the Straits; but Dom Manuel would send another gift next
year. Meanwhile, "You will present these things to him as
from me/ 7 writes the Governor in Dom Rodrigo's regimento
(paper of instructions, "and tell him that I send them as a
token that I am his servant, and that which the King was
sending him will follow next year.**

Diogo Lopes seems a trifle apprehensive lest Dom Rodrigo
might be tackled on a subject still more awkward to explain,
"If, on arrival, Prester John's ambassador's should complain
that he was not treated and honoured here as became an en-
voy from so great a prince, you will say that it was owing to
certain doubts and intrigues sown by the Devil; but all is to
be amended, if it please Our Lord,"

Having conveniently shelved this responsibility upon tibe
enemy of all mankind, Diogo Lopes bade the embassy fare-
well on April 30. The Bahr Nagach provided mules and
camels, and so the party struck inland, on the road to Asmara.

The Bahr Nagach was to have been their guide, but Mat-
thew had his own idea in mind. Matthew was very happy,
not to say above himself. His long exile was ended, his char-
acter was cleared, everyone deferred to him, and he was go-
ing home! He meant to get there by the route he chose, and
that was via Bizan. He had left most of his belongings at the
monastery of Bizan, it appears. The Bahr Nagach objected
that Bizan was out of the way, but Matthew did not care.
Neither did the Bahr Nagach! He parted from the delegation
and continued his own road.

Matthew declared that he knew the country better than
anyone else and they must follow him. He was quite rude to

67

The Land of Prcster John

the Bahr Nagach's brother-in-law, a pleasant youth who met
the travellers shortly afterwards and offered courteously to
put them on their way. Forging ahead, the Armenian led
them by breakneck goat-tracks across "diabolical mountains
and forests" where nobody could ride. The sun blazed, the
scorched rocks burned, the camels shrieked "as though they
were possessed." 'Truly," exclaims Francisco Alvares, "devils
walked at midday in those woods, where wild beasts
abounded/* So they stumbled on through a fantastic inferno,
along a path that they feared would not lead anywhere.

After three days, when the travellers felt quite certain that
they were lost, signs of human life appeared at last. Herds of
goats and cows roamed the mountain-side, led by men so
scantily attired that "there was little of them that could not
be seen." The women, Padre Francisco notes with some re-
lief, "were better covered, but not much." All these people
were "very black and Christian."

Some monks appeared likewise. They were very old, and as
thin as sticks, wherefore, Padre Francisco says ambiguously,
"at first sight they seem to be of holy life." They came from the
little convent of St. Michael, not far from Bizan. There the
travellers were lodged, and one by one they all fell ill, begin-
ning with the doctor. Mestre Joao, however, was a competent
physician. Nothing dismayed, he "bled and purged himself,
and so got well and then attended to the others."

Matthew, who ought to have been accustomed to tibe cli-
mate, was as ill as anybody else. Mestre Joao treated him
successfully, and all might have been well, but as soon as he
felt better the patient insisted upon packing up and moving
on. No one could have restrained him, for Matthew "was very
fond of his own way," says his father confessor. The conse-
quence was what might be expected. He had not been gone
long before an urgent message summoned Mestre Joao and
the chaplain to his side. They found him dying half-way be-
tween St. Michael and Bizan. It was too late for the physician
to do anything, but Padre Francisco heard his last confession

68

The Improvised Embassy

and wrote the Portuguese translation of his will. Queen
Helena was to inherit all that he possessed. In this manner,
upon May 23, the first ambassador from Prester John passed
out.

Poor Matthew, with his changing moods, his caprice and
his temper, his bursts of piety and penitence, his uncertain
matrimonial state, the very certain love he bore his young
companion Jacob, the tribulations of his Odyssey, and tragic
death when he was nearly home, remains a pathetic and in-
triguing figure to the last. He met with much injustice and
misunderstanding, yet we feel that he brought some of it
upon himself. He was certainly a most peculiar person. If we
knew more about his origin and antecedents it might be easier
to make him out. As it is, he stands as an enigma on the page
of history an enigma to which Francisco Alvares alone
possessed the key, but that was under the seal of the con-
fessional, and so he has not passed it on.

Matthew was buried at the monastery' with every honour,
and the embassy remained a few weeks longer at Bizan. For
some reason the monks appeared annoyed that they should
leave at all and did eveiyihing they could to hinder their de-
parture. In spite of obstructions, however, the party got away
on June 18. Father Francisco, if no one else, had passed an
interesting month at this religious house, and has much to
write about its rules and observations. "Some of these friars
are very good, devout, and honourable others are not so** is
his final verdict on his African colleagues.

More precipitous paths up rocky mountains, and the ex-
pedition found itself on a high tableland. The soil seemed
fertile here, "with cultivated fields, and others lying fallow as
in Portugal," the travellers observed approvingly.

They were now at Debaroa, capital of the province ruled
by the Bahr Nagach. This gentleman had been all smiles to
Diogo Lopes de Sequeira; but Diogo Lopes had had armed
troops at his side, cannon that thundered from the sea, and a
great fleet swinging at anchor off the shore. To twelve or four-

The Land of Prester John

teen lonely foreigners completely cut off from their kind he
did not think it necessary to be so pleasant. The Bahr Nagach
was not sure he approved of foreigners; at any rate he did not
see why he should be the one to put them up! When the Portu-
guese arrived at Debaroa, he inhospitably withdrew to the
neighbouring village of Addi Baro.

Dom Rodrigo followed him there. He needed beasts of bur-
den and he needed guides. Matthew was no longer there to
help the party, and it was difficult to wander across Abys-
sinia unaccompanied by anyone who knew the ropes. Accord-
ingly, Dom Rodrigo with the chaplain and a few others, when
they had said their prayers at the Addi Baro church, pre-
sented themselves at the ruler's palace "We thought that he
would speak to us at once" but they were told that the great
man was asleep. As far as Dom Rodrigo was concerned, he
did not wake that day, and the ambassador with his com-
panions were packed into a goat-pen for the night. "We could
only just squeeze into it," Padre Francisco says.

Next morning found them once again outside the not very
palatial palace. It was a one-storeyed building consisting of
a number of rooms opening into one another which rooms,
the observing eye of Father Francisco did not fail to note,
"were very seldom swept.** At the entrance of the house three
porters barred the way. They would not let the strangers pass
without exacting a tip, and the gratification they desired
was pepper!

We are not told if Dom Rodrigo went about with pepper in
his pocket, but somehow they got through, only to be held
up by three more porters with whips. Mopping their brows,
they waited half an hour, and "it was hot enough to kffl us.**

Dom Rodrigo's patience began to wear thin. Were they to
be admitted or were they not? he asked the porter, because
if not, he would go. The porter took the message and returned
to say that they might come in.

The Bahr Nagach sat on a couch, ^draped with poor cur-
tains," and his \rae sat by his side. They could see that he was

70

MAP OF ABYSSINIA SHOWING ITINERARIES OF DOM
CRISTOVAO DA GAMA AND DOM RODRIGO DE LINiA

The Improvised Embassy

suffering from eye disease. Anxious to make himself agree-
able, Dom Rodrigo offered the assistance of his doctor, but
"I have no need of him/* the Bahr Nagach replied ungra-
ciously.

Could he provide oxen and asses for their journey, Dom
Rodrigo asked, and mules for them to ride? Oxen and asses,
yes, said the Ethiopian, but no mules. These must be bought

At the conclusion of a rather chilling interview the visitors
were led into an outer room. There it seemed that they were
to be refreshed before departing. Straw mats were laid for
them to sit upon the floor, a horn of honey wine was brought,
and a large basin of food. This contained an uncooked paste
of roasted barley flour and water.

Dom Rodrigo and his comrades gazed upon this chicken-
feed with feelings of dismay. The more they looked at it, the
more their courage failed. No one could bring himself to eat
the stuff, and so the feast was left untasted.

But they were not suffered to escape so easily. The Bahr
Nagach might be indifferent whether his guests ate or not,
but his mother took it very much to heart. The lady felt that
her housekeeping was slighted, and she sent more food after
the departing strangers. Five large wheaten loaves, another
horn of honey wine, and some more of that sticky concoction
which had defeated them before. Good manners left no loop-
hole this time. They set their faces and they ate it up.

Debaroa proved no easy place to leave. The Bahr Nagach
was anything but helpful, and beasts and carriers were diffi-
cult to find. The latter would load up and progress for a few
leagues, after which they dumped their burdens by the way-
side, declaring that they could go no farther and must be
relayed. Others never appeared available, and the baggage
was thus left in the rain for the rains were starting by that
time, which added not a little to the complications.

The Bahr Nagach when they could get hold of him,
which was not often would promise anything and then dis-
miss the matter from his mind. Clearly, he did not wish to be

71

The Land of Prester John

bothered with the embassy. He had a war with certain neigh-
bouring tribes, and that was what preoccupied him* He was
short of armaments, he said to Dom Rodrigo; would the latter
oblige him with some swords?

Dom Rodrigo gave him "a very good sword" that he was
wearing for the journey, but the Abyssinian was not satisfied.
He wanted Dom Rodrigo's other sword as well, he said the
beautiful one with an ornamental hilt. Dom Rodrigo did not
wish to part with his best sword. He bought a handsome
gilded sabre from a member of his staff and gave that to the
Bahr Nagach instead. It seems that even that was not enough,
for the following night "two swords and a helmet were stolen
from the house in which the Portuguese slept,**

In the end sufficient mules were found, and the Bahr
Nagach gave them three camels, so they got away. The rains
had really set in by then, which made it most imprudent to
proceed. "They never travel at that season," observes Padre
Francisco, "but we hurried off, not knowing the country or
the risk that we incurred.'*

In spite of everything they struggled on, out of the lands of
the Bahr Nagach into the mountains of Tigre. It was a strange
region that the travellers were now traversing vertical peaks
all round, rising to meet the sky, and on every mountain-top
a hermitage hung like an eagle's nest on rocks which it seemed
no human foot could climb. Below the mountains ruins:
stone churches a thousand years old, vast systems of irriga-
tion works, remains of Greeks and Romans scattered among
monuments more ancient still where Sabaeans had wor-
shipped the sun before the Christian era.

Not only the aspect of the scenery changed as they pro-
gressed inland, but the people began to be different, in cos-
tume and every other way. Costume is hardly the word to
apply to anything so negative as our writer describes. The
women dressed in beads and little else. In Portugal and
Spain," observes Father Francisco, "men many for love of a

72

The Improvised Embassy

pretty face tibe rest is hidden. No such mystery" he adds,
attends an Abyssinian "bride."

The reception which the travellers met varied from one vil-
lage to another. Some places pelted them with stones, others
refused to sell them food; but the nuns of Farso welcomed
them with almost disconcerting veneration. These were saintly
pilgrims from Jerusalem, declared the pious ladies. To ac-
quire merit for themselves, they washed the strangers* feet,
drinking the water afterwards and bathing their own faces
in it!

The Governor of Tigre showed himself more friendly and
hospitable than had the Bahr Xagach. He provided the em-
bassy with guides and an escort numbering five hundred men.
The handling of the baggage, however, seems still to have
been inefficient. As they travelled towards the mountains of
Bernacel, the party was dismayed to find their packs, which
had gone on ahead, embedded in the middle of a flooded
field.

As they paused, debating how to extricate their property,
some men on muleback were seen approaching from afar.
One of the riders made straight for the chief man of the
Abyssinian escort, seized his bridle-rein, and began belabour-
ing him with a big stick Dom Rodrigo rushed to the rescue,
and the aggressor would have been dispatched if Jorge de
Abreu had not caught some words that he cried out in broken
Italian. Explanations followed. This was no brigand after afl,
but a highly respectable if impetuous monk, by the name of
Saga Zaab. The Emperor had sent him to meet the visitors
and help them on their way. When he saw the mess that Dom
Rodrigo's guide had made, he had been moved to wrath.

Saga Zaab provided them with more mules and camels, and
he accompanied Doin Rodrigo's party to their journey's en<L
he proved a useful help, but Dom Rodrigo objected to his
system of spending every night upon a mountain-top. It was
uohealthfui down below, insisted Saga Zaab. That, said Dom

73

The Land of Prcster John

Rodrigo, did not matter. Saga Zaab could climb up if he
liked, but they would not trouble to follow him. So the Abys-
sinian perched aloft while the Portuguese pitched their tents
in the plain.

The chiefs that they met upon the way were mostly pleas-
ant. The Ras of Angote, an important personage, gave them a
very honourable reception which "consisted principally of
drinks," Padre Francisco says. They found the Ras sitting with
four large jugs of wine at hand and a crystal goblet standing by
each jug. From these he urged his guests to drink, and go on
drinking until all were empty. Happily for them, he also did
his bit, and his wife with two lady friends was not left far
behind. When the liquid gave out at last, the Ras called for
more. But the sober Portuguese were horrified at the prospect
of further libations. Dom Rodrigo invented an excuse, and so
they got away.

They were invited to a Sunday dinner after church next
day. Dom Rodrigo accepted, but feeling unequal to face
Abyssinian cooking, brought his own meal with him, which
unusual procedure apparently gave no offence. Padre Fran-
cisco has described the party, which seems to have been a
success.

All sat upon the floor on mats around two large trays that
served as tables, the Ras in the middle of his guests, his lady
modestly screened by a curtain farther off. **Water was
brought and we washed our hands, but no towel came to wipe
them, neither was there any tablecloth.** The Portuguese said
grace, which struck the Abyssinians as a pleasing custom, and
then the feast began. Bread was placed upon the board, and
on every piece of bread were slices of raw meat, which the
Ras consumed with evident enjoyment while his guests looked
on amazed. Three dishes of black earthenware also appeared,
containing each a kind of soup, or stew, made up, it seems, of
cow-dung and gall, with bits of bread and butter floating on
the top. The shuddering Europeans all decided that "we
could not eat such potage." They turned thankfully to the

74

The Improvised Embassy

"good roast chickens and boiled beef which Dom Rodrigo
had provided. He offered some of these to his hostess, but if
the lady ate or not behind her curtain nobody could see. "She
helped well with the drinks, however," the chaplain remarked.
Bidding farewell to this convivial pair, our travellers went
on. Already they were in the province of Amhara and ap-
proaching their journey's end. It had been a full five months*
steady going across this strange townless kingdom of rich
churches and poor villages, of barren rocks and cultivated
fields, of mountains and of ruins five months* perpetual
moving on through heat and cold, through flood and drought,
from airy height to stifling hollow, from panther-haunted jun-
gle into desert, and from desert into populated tableland. The
day's march, a halt for the night, and on again next day it
had all grown to seem part of the unchanging scheme of life
when at last, on October 10, they sighted far away the tents
of Prester John.

75

Prester John at Last! | ^s><^

Ifg&

Prester John lived in a tent. Throughout the vastness of his
empire he had no fixed abode, but perambulated his nomadic
court according to the exigencies of politics or war, Lebna
Dengel Dawit was this young ruler's name as it figures in
Ethiopian chronicles, but his Portuguese contemporaries sim-
plified it to David. As for the fancy title bestowed on him by
European imagination, that died hard. "The Moors and Abys-
sinians call him Emperor and not Prester John . , /* Albu-
querque seems to have been the first person to take note of
this fact, but Moors and Abyssinians notwithstanding, to the
Portuguese he had always been Prester John, and Prester John
He would remain to the end.

The Emperor at this time was some twenty years of age.
Old Queen Helena's tutelage was a thing of die past. The
dowager still lived at court, but in retirement. Young David,
like his namesake and alleged ancestor, had embarked early
on a military career. Abyssinia, with the independent Mos-
lem tribes of Adel and Harrar seething about her southern
frontiers, needed a warrior king, Lebna Dengel at the age of
seventeen had buckled on his sword. He had met the famous
Emir Mahfuzh on the plains near Zeila. There the terror of
Ethiopia lost the battle and his head, which gory trophy the
young champion bore away, as well as the green standard and

76

Pr ester John at Last!

velvet tent presented to the Emir by the Sheriff of Mecca.
This victory had placed Abyssinia in a strong position much
stronger than at the time when Queen Helena had written her
letter to Dom Manuel. The arrival of an embassy from Portu-
gal therefore caused less excitement than it would have done
a few years before.

This does not mean that Dom Rodrigo was not courteously
received. The Emperor sent along one of his lords to welcome
and accommodate his guests. He also offered for their use a
splendid tent one of his own, they were informed, and of a
type reserved for royalty. He further sent them veal pasties
and cows and honey wine, all of which things were pleasant;
but what seems to have upset Dom Rodrigo w r as a message
that they were at liberty to purchase merchandise and sell
their wares. This base insinuation was too much for a fidalgo's
pride. What did the Emperor take him for? Neither he nor
his father, nor his mother, nor any of his ancestors, said Dom
Rodrigo loftily, nor those of the other gentlemen who came
with him had ever bought or sold! He was amazed that such
a thing should be suggested! It is doubtful, however, whether
Lebna Dengel could appreciate the importance of this point
or understand the aristocratic prejudices of the West

His own pride was made manifest in dignified delay. To
grant an early audience to a foreign embassy was not con-
sonant with his greatness. What most interested him about
them was the present which he hoped that they had brought
From Matthew's passage at Dahlak in 1517 the news had per-
colated into Abyssinia that a magnificent gift was on the way,
The Emperor accordingly sent word to Dom Rodrigo that it
was his gracious pleasure to receive the offering.

It was sad that reality should fall so short of expectation.
Dom Rodrigo laid out what he had as best he could. He added
to it four bales of pepper, a commodity as highly prized in
Abyssinia as it was in Europe of that day, but even so the
effect was not rich. Such as they were, the modest gifts were
carried pompously into the Emperor's white and purple camp,

77

The Land of Prester John

while a hundred court officials marched before, scattering the
crowd by means of leather thongs.

The whole performance was not unlike a circus. A double
row of arches, swathed alternately in white and purple cot-
ton cloth, led up to the imperial tent, and a squadron of two
thousand men was lined up on either side. Before the arches
sat four mounted guards on steeds caparisoned in silk bro-
cade. In front of these horsemen, two on either side, were four
chained lions. Lake Christian into Palace Beautiful, the dele-
gates walked up between the lions.

The gifts were taken in to Prester John, but the ambassador
was not admitted to the presence. When the offerings had
passed before the regal eye, they were brought out again and
spread upon the arches for the populace to see. The Chief
Justice of the realm got up and made a speech: God should be
praised, said he, for having brought about this happy meet-
ing among Christians. Anybody who felt otherwise might
weep; those who rejoiced could sing! At this the listening
crowd politely bellowed its delight

Dora Rodrigo hoped for an audience the next day, but he
was disappointed. The fact was that Prester John thought
nothing of their present He wanted more and did not hesi-
tate to say so. Would they hand over all the pepper that they
had? This Dom Rodrigo was very loath to do. There was no
currency in Abyssinia and spices served instead; still, as the
Emperor was insistent, he surrendered most of his supply.
Further to gratify their host, they decided to give him four of
their travelling-chests, because "it seemed ter us that he would
be pleased with them, and we should find favour in his sight"

Lebna Dengel was not happy yet There was something
else for which he yearned, and since it was not offered him he
asked for it A messenger arrived at Dom Rodrigo's tent to
say that the Emperor would like to have a pair of breeches!

Dom Rodrigo sacrificed at once one of his own, and an-
other member of his staff produced a second pair. Their

78

Prcstcr John at Last!

breeches and all other things, said the ambassador politely,
were at the disposal of Prester John.

But neither Dom Rodrigo s breeches, nor yet the attractive
little leather trunks, nor all the pepper they had given him
brought Lebna Dengel to the point. The delegates waited
impatiently and in some apprehension. Would they be per-
mitted to deliver their message and depart? None of their
predecessors at the Abyssinian court had got away. If for-
eigners would seek them out, said the Ethiopians, they should
remain in Abyssinia altogether! Returning travellers might go
about spreading evil reports. They seem to have held a pessi-
mistic view of the impression that their country made upon
outsiders and to have been sensitive about it.

It was not from Pero da Covilham that Dom Rodrigo heard
all this the former was resident on his estates andliad not
yet appeared. His informants were a number of Europeans
discovered stranded at the Abyssinian court: two Catalans, a
Biscayan, a German, a Greek from Chios, and eleven Genoese.
All of these men, escaped from Turkish prisons some after
forty years* captivity had strange adventures to relate. Un-
happily for our curiosity, adventures were at a discount in
those days. So many lives were like a serial in the Boys 9 Own
Paper that sensational experiences of private persons were
scarcely considered worthy of record. All that we know of
this particular group of adventurers is that most of them had
been confined at Jidda at the time that Lopo Soares passed in
1517. When, to their sorrow, he sailed away without rescuing
them they had seized a boat and managed to escape. Finding
it impossible to overtake the fleet, they had made for Mas-
sawa, whence they went on to Abyssinia. There Dom Rodrigo
and his party found them very much at home. TTiey all had
learned the language, some of them were married, and Padre
Francisco Alvares baptized the half-caste infant of a Genoese.
As, beyond their knowledge of Amharic, all these men spoke
Portuguese, which in those days was a widespread universal

79

The Land of Prester John

tongue, it may be easily imagined what a blessing they were
to the newcomers. All sorts of information was supplied by
them, including the disquieting item that his counsellors were
advising the Emperor to detain the Portuguese indefinitely.

The suspense was rather trying, the more so that they had
several false alarms. One morning at about three a.m. the dele-
gation's cicerone, Saga Zaab, rushed up excitedly. The Em-
peror wished to speak to them at once! All hastened to get
ready, and they had just arrayed themselves in their most
splendid clothes when a second messenger appeared to say
that the monarch had changed his mind. "We were as sad as
the peacock who, having spread his tail, had to close it again/*
chuckles Padre Francisco, whom nature had blessed with a
sense of humour.

Another night Prester John's habits were apparently noc-
turnal a second summons came. They had to wait outside
the tent an hour in the teeth of a bitter wind, but this time
their best clothes were not put on wholly in vain. Between
rows of lighted candles they were led through a series of
tents, loudly announced in every one. At last they reached the
inner sanctuary, carpeted and hung with rich embroidered
cloths. Here they were brought, not before the Emperor, but
before the gorgeous curtains behind which he sat! The inter-
view was with an unseen presence, and carried on by mes-
sengers that came and went behind the veil. The elusive
Prester John, now run to earth, was no more than a voice a
voice that demanded without any preamble where was the
present which Matthew had announced?

Clearly the ambassador was suspected of misappropria-
tion. Dom Rodrigo explained all that he could. Everything
that he had to give, he said, already had been given, and some
more. Dom ManueTs present was at Cochin, waiting to be
sent Dom Rodrigo had only come on a friendly visit and to
find out the way. A more official embassy would no doubt fol-
low. But Lebna Dengel seems to have remained suspicious
and postponed receiving them in solemn audience*

80

Pr ester John at Last!

Meanwhile messages came and returned, and it was all
question and answer. The delegates were getting quite ac-
customed to this. Since their arrival at the Abyssinian court
they had been subjected to repeated and searching question-
naires about the Portuguese in general and themselves in par-
ticular, their firearms and their fortresses, their allies and their
King was the latter married, by the way, and to how many
wives? The Emperor also wished for more details about Dom
Manuel and his Queen, how old their children were, and how
they took their meals, and where they lived. How many were
the Portuguese? What was the size of Portugal? How many
fortresses had they in India, and what did they pay their
men? How many arquebuses had Dom Rodrigo brought with
him? Who taught the Moors and Turks to manufacture artil-
lery; and, finally, which feared the other most, the Moors or
the Portuguese? The Portuguese, Dom Rodrigo assured him,
were not afraid of Moors; but he piously gave the true faith
all credit for that fact. As to how the Turks had learned to
use gunpowder though their spiritual perceptions might be
dim, still they were men and they had understanding which
permitted them to find out such things for themselves.

Firearms interested Lebna Dengel. He made the delegates
bring along their arquebuses and fire a discharge for his bene-
fit He must have had a peephole in his curtain, for he further
wished to see them use their swords; whereupon Dom Ro-
drigo de Lima and Jorge de Abreu, who were the two most
skilled performers, fenced together in great style.

Prester John seemed anxious to put his guests through all
their paces. He demanded next that they should dance and
sing a request that might be disconcerting to a modern
diplomat, but these belonged to a less self-conscious genera-
tion. Without turning a hair, the delegates treated the Negus
to an exhibition of their graceful movements and the beauty
of their voices.

Having examined the strangers* mundane accomplish-
ments, the Emperor satisfied himself as to their religious

81

The Land of Prcstcr John

orthodoxy. His royal brother, Dom Manuel, had done exactly
the same thing when visited by Matthew. In matters concern-
ing the faith, both monarchs felt that one could not make too
sure, Matthew, while in Portugal, had been subjected to a
minute catechism on the subject of his beliefs. In Abyssinia,
Padre Francisco Alvares, representing the religion of the dele-
gation, was sounded no less carefully. Not for nothing had
Lebna Dengel Dawit been brought up by the learned Queen
Helena. At his hands Father Francisco underwent a stiff theo-
logical examination that was continued and repeated during
many interviews. It seems that the examiner could have car-
ried on indefinitely; not so the unhappy examinee. On one
occasion the latter had to beg "His Highness to have pity on
an old man who had neither eaten nor drunk nor slept since
noon the day before" (it was already about three o'clock).
"He asked me why, since he enjoyed talking to me, I did not
enjoy it too. I answered that hunger, weakness, and old age
did not allow me. Reluctantly the Emperor gave him leave
to go and dine, but as he went a messenger came running after
him. A new and lighter subject of curiosity had seized Lebna
Dengel might he have Padre Francisco's hat to look at? He
would return it soon. Padre Francisco surrendered his hat
and got away in peace. He reached his tent in a fainting con-
dition, but was summoned back again after an hour and a half.
Padre Francisco acquitted himself of these successive or-
deals with much credit He held forth upon the doctrines of
the Church, the rites and festivals that she celebrates; and he
explained to everybody's satisfaction the symbolic meaning of
the vestments that he wore. What he seems to have found the
most trying was his examiner's demand for exact figures at
all times. How many, and how much? seem to have been
favourite phrases with Lebna Dengel. How many prophets
were there all together? he inquired. How many foretold the
coming of Our Lord, and how many books did each one write?
How many books did St. Paul write, and the Evangelists?
Padre Francisco pleaded that he had been travelling for six

82

Pr ester John at Last!

years and some of these figures had escaped his memory, so
though he answered everything, he did not vouch for the ac-
curacy of his replies. How many books were in the Bible
all together? the curtained inquisitor demanded next. Padre
Francisco boldly guessed that there were eighty-one, and was
congratulated upon his good memory. He was really cor-
nered, however, when asked at what date to celebrate the fes-
tival of St. Baralara. "I was," said he, "distressed." After
searching through every calendar available, he found one
which included this exotic saint, and never went to court
again without that priceless work of reference to consult.

The divergencies between the Church of Rome and that of
Abyssinia were also discussed. Did members of the Latin
Church obey the Pope in everything? Lebna Dengel asked,
and Father Francisco assured 'him mat invariably they did.
Suppose the Pope ordained something unscriptural what
then? young David inquired. If their Coptic Patriarch did
so, he added, the Ethiopian would throw the edict in the fire!

Such a case, Padre Francisco answered with conviction,
could never occur. The Pope being the Holy Father, his man-
dates could never be in opposition to Holy Writ On the con-
trary, it was the Scriptures that inspired them all. Moreover,
he was guided in his decisions by the counsel of doctors, cardi-
nals, archbishops, and bishops, who were enlightened upon
these matters by the Holy Ghost. Such learned persons, he
added, were sadly lacking in Ethiopia!

The cross-questioning does not appear to have included any
definitions of the Trinity. Had it done so, examiner and exami-
nee might have found themselves more seriously at variance.
But it seems that this question was not raised, and the fun-
damental difference between the Roman and the Coptic
Churches thus passed unnoticed. As it was, the doctrinal dis-
cussions only helped to build mutual esteem. Francisco
Alvares concluded that tibe Abyssinian Church, though igno-
rant, was devout, while Lebna Dengel pronounced the Por-
tuguese religion to be sound. A spirit of mutual tolerance pre-
83

The Land of Prester John

vailed which would have been almost impossible a few
decades later on when the generation of churchmen reared
in the shadow of the Inquisition had grown up. Thus, when
the Portuguese were asked by the Ethiopians which was the
better of the two, the Roman or the Coptic Mass, "we an-
swered that both were good, since both were to one end, and
God was willing to be served in many different ways.** In the
same spirit, though Father Francisco was a little startled to
behold his Ethiopian colleagues "leaping, dancing, and hop-
ping" about the church, when called upon for his opinion he
declared that "all was well since it was done to the glory of
God"!

With all this, the embassy had only once seen Prester John.
Invisibility was part of the royal prestige in Abyssinia. The
Emperor showed himself to his people three times a year at
Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. On every other occasion
curtains veiled him from all except the favoured few. Dom
Rodrigo and his companions were vouchsafed this privilege
when the Emperor gave official audience to the embassy.

It was again at night, and preceded by a very long and very
chilly wait ""three hours at the door, where it was very cold
and dark." It must be remembered that these were high alti-
tudes.

At last they walked up between the usual row of bright illu-
minations towards a kind of stage from which a pair of gor-
geous curtains were drawn apart. There, raised aloft "after the
manner in which God the Father is represented on wall paint-
ings, 7 * sat Prester John upon a platform six steps high. His
person was richly adorned. A tall crown of gold and silver
was upon his head, in his hand he grasped a silver cross, and
before his face was held a blue taffeta veil, concealing it up
to the nose. Every now and then this veil was lowered, reveal-
ing his whole face. He wore a long brocaded robe and silken
shirt with ample sleeves, while over his knees was draped a
doth of gold. **In age, complexion, and stature he is a young
man, not very black, but chestnut or the colour of a russet

84

Prester John at Last!

apple. Good-looking, of medium height, a round face, large
eyes, and a high-bridged nose. His beard is beginning to
grow. . . .**

The delegates made deep obeisance, touching the ground
with their right hands as they had been instructed was good
form. Dom Rodrigo delivered the Governor's letter, of which
an Amharic translation had been made. Lebna Dengel
glanced through it rapidly. Why had not the King written
himself? he asked. He was" told that Dom Manuel's letter had
been lost in 1517, which it seems was the truth. A few com-
pliments were exchanged. Prester John said that he would
be delighted for the Portuguese to build fortresses at Massawa
and Sualdn, for which he promised to supply provisions. He
further invited them to capture Zeila. That, Dom Rodrigo
said, would be an easy thing to do. Where the King of Por-
tugal sent his navies in force, the Moors fled from their very
shadow! He also suggested that he himself might be captain
of the fortress at Massawa, And so with pleasant words the
audience ended.

It had gone off very well, and there was nothing left to do
but await the answering letters to carry back. These would
have to be written in gold lettering, the Emperor said, and
might take time. This was a pity. Dom Rodrigo expected the
fleet to be at Massaw r a to fetch him between February and
April 1521. If the delegation failed to be at Massawa within
the dates prescribed, they knew that they would not be waited
for. Any ship lingering in the Red Sea after the end of April
would have to remain there for three months until the mon-
soon ceased an eaqperience no commander cared to risk It
had been tried in 1513 and again in 1517, with terrible mor-
tality each time. Thus Dom Rodrigo had good reason to urge
the Emperor for a prompt reply.

85

A Prolonged Visit

Prester John decidedly did not believe in hustle. Dom Ro-
drigo had to possess his soul in patience and follow the court
about over the mountains.

The court of Abyssinia on the move was no ordinary spec-
tacle. The whole neighbourhood packed up at the same time
and followed after. The great lords rode while their rich tents
were carried by a regiment of servants. The poor broke up
their little shacks and bore them along piecemeal. There were
men on foot and men on horseback oxen, donkeys, camels,
all bearing their load. So many people on the march re-
minded Father Francisco of "a Corpus Christi procession in
some large town.*

At the centre, in a space kept dear of the mixed multitude,
the Emperor rode his mule, A canopy of curtains held aloft
concealed the sacred form from profane gaze. His four sym-
bolic lions were led in front, held strongly fettered by a
numeroua guard. To the rear his carriers bore upon their
heads a hundred jars of raisin wine and a hundred ornate
baskets filled with loaves, all to be distributed on the way to
those whom royalty might delight to honour.

Thirteen consecrated tents the Emperor's churches fig-
ured solemnly in the procession. Eight priests were in charge
of each one, which they carried in relays of four. Two acolytes

86

A Prolonged Visit

walked in front with a cross upheld and censers swinging,
while they rang a bell. Any who crossed their path had to dis-
mount and stand aside until the "church" had passed.

The embassy took part in this impressive exodus. An hon-
ourable position was assigned the Portuguese, near the Em-
peror's person. And so they followed him by breakneck
mountain paths until a lof ty tableland was reached where the
court camped to celebrate the Christmas festival.

Pero da Covilham's estates were not far off, and he hastened
to court to meet his fellow country-men. The old exile must
have been a most interesting person. He spoke, Padre Fran-
cisco tells us, every language Christian, Moslem, or heathen
and he was a perfect mine of information. Unhappily for
us, Pero da Covilham never troubled to write his reminis-
cences, and what could have been one of the most exciting
biographies in history may only be constructed in imagination.

All the exiled Europeans gathered with the Portuguese on
Christmas morning to celebrate the festival after the rites
familiar to their youth. Prester John had given the embassy
the Emir's captured tent to use as a church. It had been duly
blessed and exorcized a precaution recommended by Lebna
Dengel "in case some Moor had sinned within it" and in it
Padre Francisco said his daily Mass. The Christmas services
were a success. All musical members of the congregation
helped. Manuel de Mares presided at the organ ( some kind of
harmonium, no doubt), while the painter Lazaro de Andrade,
Mestre Joao the physician, Joao Escolar, secretary of the em-
bassy, a Genoese, and a Catalan named Nicolas, all sang with
such effect that "an enraptured Abyssinian priest declared Tie
thought he was in paradise among the angels." The Emperor
with his wife and Queen Helena in their tent was also listen-
ing and admired. Some Abyssinian ceremonies about this sea-
son were rather startling to the Portuguese. Would they like
to be baptized? asked the Ethiopians on the eve of the Epiph-
any. Padre Francisco answered in surprise that all of them
had been baptized already and once was enough. "Not at all,*

87

The Land of Prestcr John

said the Ethiopians. "We are baptized every year." Padre
Francisco, interested but a little scandalized, witnessed the
performance later on.

If mortification of the flesh can confer merit, there certainly
was merit here. It was a cold night at these altitudes, with
frost upon the ground, but the baptisms began at midnight
in a deep tank filled with water from a mountain stream. In
the middle of this pool an old priest stood, immersed up to his
armpits and "dying of cold," Father Francisco observes feel-
ingly. The Emperor, the royal family, and the Patriarch, each
clad only in a loincloth, took the plunge first in privacy. The
penitents of lesser rank came afterwards men and women
all stark naked. One by one they passed under the priestly
hands and were made to bow tieir heads beneath the icy
water. It was broad daylight before the ceremony was over,
and we are not told whether the officiating priest subsequently
died of pneumonia.

**What do you think of it?" asked Lebna Dengel from be-
hind his screen, and Father Francisco answered that he dis-
approved.

"I quite agree with you," said the Abuna the Patriarch of
Abyssinia to our friend in an aside. Repeated baptisms, in
his opinion, were unscriptural. But he had no one to support
him in this view. The Emperor's grandfather had instituted
the system of annual baptism, and from the highest motives.
Since men would not refrain from sinning, this monarch felt
that the cleansing waters should be frequently renewed. So
many souls, he said devoutly, might otherwise be lost! The
Patriarch was not quite happy over the innovation, but the
Emperor had his way.

Tnis Abuna was named Mark and hailed from Alexandria,
the headquarters of the Coptic Church, whence came all
Abyssinia's patriarchs. The post does not appear to have been
greatly coveted, for each time an Abuna died it was very diffi-
cult to find him a successor. The Abyssinians were already
considering what would happen after Mark's demise an

88

A Prolonged Visit

event not likely to be long delayed if, as he told Francisco
Alvares, he was a hundred and twenty years old!

Mark was a meek and benevolent old man Tittle and
bald," and with a beard as white as wool very pleasant in
his speech. He and Padre Francisco became great friends. On
their first meeting each had endeavoured to outdo the other in
reverent courtesy. Padre Francisco tried to kiss the Patriarch's
hand, which the Abuna did not allow, but would have kissed
his foreign colleague's foot. In the end they sat down side by
side and conversed heart to heart. "Did I not tell you," ob-
served the Patriarch, beaming at Pero da Covilham, "that one
day you would see your fellow coimtrymen? 7 *

Pero da Covilham was enjoying their society, and they
found in him a complete guide to correct behaviour at the
Abyssinian court. "You must seem more impressed,* 7 he en-
joined the ambassador. "Admire all that they show you."

The advice was needed, for the Ethiopians were constantly
displaying things for Dom Rodrigo's wonder, and Dom Ro-
drigo did not care to be outdone. "Look at those beautiful
hangings in our church," they said. "Is there anything in Por-
tugal to be compared with them?" Certainly there was, said
the ambassador, they ought to see Batalha. "Behold the trap-
pings of the Emperor's horser cried someone else ecstatically.
"Has the King of Portugal harness like that?" Among the ob-
jects that Duarte Galvao had been bringing for the Emperor,
Dom Rodrigo answered loftily, were harnesses more beauti-
ful than those.

But a point was scored by the Ethiopians when they exhib-
ited all the state umbrellas, each one of which could have
sheltered ten men. Did Dom Manuel walk out under such
parasols? they asked the chaplain, who had to own that Dom
Manuel did not. But the King had no need of such things, he
added loyally, for he had many hats! Dom Manuel had, more-
over, shady gardens in which to stroll when the sun was op-
pressive.

It might perhaps have been more tactful not to lay too

89

The Land of Prester John

much stress upon the glory and riches of Europe, for, observed
the Ethiopians gloomily, the present which Dom Rodrigo
brought had not been much. Dom Rodrigo was getting tired
of having that unhappy present thrown into his teeth.

The King of Portugal, he declared, did not give presents
he received them! A! tie kings of Asia sent him gifts. Now
and then he might offer something to a friend, not as a matter
of custom, but as a special token of regard. Prester John had
been one of those favoured few. If a series of unfortunate ac-
cidents had prevented the delivery of the present, that could
not be helped. Besides, all this giving of gifts was not a Euro-
pean custom. Equipped just as they were, Dom Rodrigo and
his suite could have presented themselves before any king!
They had acquitted themselves of their mission. Why did not
the Emperor give them their answer and permit them to de-
part? Dom Manuel, said Dom Rodrigo in conclusion, had
received Matthew with far more honour than Lebna Dengel
had shown them.

Ah, replied the Abyssinians, if their embassy had arrived
during the reign of David's predecessor they would not have
enjoyed such good treatment as that which they had now met
not, that is to say, unless they had brought a really satisfying
present! It all came back to the same thing. The present had
been a bitter disappointment, and to describe die wonders
that Duarte Galvao would have brought only deepened the
gloom.

No blame attached to Dom Rodrigo if his offering failed to
please. But the delegation indisposed the Emperor in another
way which was entirely their own f ault It really was unneces-
sary to let the Abyssinians see that Dom Rodrigo and Jorge
de Abreu were at daggers drawn.

For the inevitable had happened. Even before they reached
the Emperor's court the first and second in command had
Mien out "over unimportant things," says Francisco
Alvares.

"Maintain good peace and concord, as men visiting a

90

A Prolonged Visit

strange land who must be careful how they act** so Diogo
Lopes wrote in Dom Rodrigo's regimerito. Diogo Lopes knew
what he was talking about, and to whom. But he must have
been equally aware that he was preaching in the desert. Old
Portugal produced a marvellous race of men. There was no
danger that they feared, or hardship they would not endure,
or adventure they were unprepared to undertake. Before a
common enemy they could unite and die as hero comrades on
the battlefield, but they could not live in harmony together.
Strong wills and hot tempers made clashes between equals
fierce and frequent enough, but between commander and sub-
ordinate they were the rule. All of these men professed a pas-
sionate loyalty to their King, but they chafed tinder every
other authority. The relations of a chief with his immediate
second were particularly difficult and delicate, and neither
Dom Rodrigo nor Jorge de Abreu stood the test.

From existing accounts it seems that Jorge de Abreu was
the more to blame. He was a man of very haughty disposition,
and he felt that as second person of the embassy due promi-
nence was not given to him.

Dom Rodrigo, for his part, made light of the dignity attach-
ing to an understudy's post. "You are second only that you
would take my place were I to die,** he pointed out, to Jorge
de Abreu's indignation. The bitterness increased each time
some special attention was bestowed on the ambassador. Dom
Rodrigo should have made the Emperor understand that Jorge
de Abreu, too, was an important person who must receive
his share of every honour! The ambassador continuing oblivi-
ous of such claims, Jorge de Abreu asserted himself.

He chose the time when the court first moved and the Em-
peror sent to ask if the mules and slaves provided for the
strangers* journey had proved satisfactory. Dom Rodrigo re-
desired.

Not so, then burst out Jorge de Abreu furiously and in Am-
haric ( he had been picking up the language rapidly, it seems ) .

91

The Land of Prcster John

Dom Rodrigo had kept all the good mules and camels for
himself. "Tell the Emperor I had only crippled mules and use-
less slaves!"

"That is not true!" cried Dom Rodrigo hotly. How dared
Jorge de Abreu send such a message to the Emperor? A few
more angry words were passed, and the colleagues fell upon
each other with drawn swords, while the Abyssinians gaped
in blank surprise. Their companions separated the two men
before either was killed, but Dom Rodrigo had already
wounded Jorge de Abreu.

Lebna Dengel heard all about it and was scandalized. Such
doings in a foreign land, he said with truth, were most un-
seemly. He begged the parties to be reconciled. At the same
time he sent some very fine mules to Jorge de Abreu, to whom
he was particularly attentive after this. The fiery foreigner
seems to have interested him. "He is like an unbridled horse,"
the Emperor is said to have remarked. Lebna Dengel was dis-
pleased with Dom Rodrigo for refusing to make peace, and
looked on the embassy coldly in consequence. Nevertheless
he decided at last to write his answer to Dom Manuel.

Letterwriting in Abyssinia was not undertaken in a light or
frivolous spirit "They are not in the habit of writing to. one
another," Padre Francisco explains. Verbal messages were the
usual mode of issuing communications, the written word be-
ing reserved for momentous occasions such as this. All the
most learned in the land were therefore summoned and sat
down with all the books of the New Testament around to
nerve them for their task

With the help of spiritual and temporal wisdom the weighty
letter was slowly evolved. As it came out, bit by bit, Saga
Zaab read it aloud, Pero da Covilham translated into Portu-
guese, which Joao Escolar wrote down assisted by Father
Francisco. It was particularly difficult, the chaplain says, "to
render Abyssinian into Portuguese.*

An Arabic translation was made out at the same time.
When the triple linguistic effort was finished at last, each ver-

A Prolonged Visit

sion was tied up in a small brocaded bag and packed into a
leather-lined basket.

The Emperor sent a gold and silver crown to Dom Manuel,
whom he said he regarded as a father. He gave gold and mules
to the various members of the embassy, and a silver cross and
crook to Father Francisco. Prayers were symbolic of the in-
vestiture of spiritual authority over Massawa, the island of
Dahlak, and the other isles and islets of the Red Sea. Tray
have him made bishop of these lands," Lebna Dengel wrote
to Dom Manuel. The whole of this delightful diocese was
Moslem, but Francisco Alvares was graciously invited to con-
vert all its inhabitants.

The miscellaneous Europeans at the Abyssinian court re-
ceived permission to leave with the Portuguese all but Pero
da Covilham, but then it seems he did not wish to go. Two
others stayed behind with him, at the Emperor's special re-
quest. The skill of Mestre Joao had greatly impressed the
Ethiopians, who were anxious to retain his sendees; and the
painter, Lazaro de Andrade, also consented to remain. Lebna
Dengel appears to have admired the European culture and
was desirous of obtaining assistance from that quarter to guide
his country on the path towards progress. He begged Dom
Manuel to send him skilled craftsmen of all kinds, especially
printers, goldsmiths, and silversmiths.

Thus the embassy set out on the long trek to Massawa, and
quarrelled as they went The treasurer and his assistant had
by that time fallen out, and one attacked the other with a
lance and nearly killed him. Dom Rodrigo refused to share
provisions with Jorge de Abreu, whereupon Jorge de Abreu
assaulted Dom Rodrigo's quarters in the night and a free fight
ensued. The Abyssinians had to intervene. Most of Jorge de
Abreu's men were placed under arrest, while he and Dom
Rodrigo "reviled each otter with bad words before the Bahr
Nagach."

And this tormented journey was for nothing after all* for
no fleet came to Massawa that year. They returned to the

93

The Land of Prester John

Abyssinian court, but Dom Rodrigo and Jorge de Abreu trav-
elled separately.

If to enter Abyssinia was no easy task, it was even more
difficult to get away. Distances were so great and communi-
cations so laborious that twice Dom Rodrigo missed the fleet
when it arrived. He ought to wait nearer the sea, wrote the
captain of the second squadron that failed to find the em-
bassy within access of Massawa. All this sending of ships for
nothing was a great expense.

All together, the delegation spent five years in Abyssinia,
Far from waiting by the sea, they seem to have wandered
everywhere during that time, but their exact itineraries are
difficult to trace. We know that they resided eight months at
Aksum. Sometimes they stayed at Debaroa, sometimes in the
Tigr& Quite often they followed the court, at other times they
travelled on their own, but always moving in two separate
bands, for Dom Rodrigo and Jorge de Abreu were never rec-
onciled. Padre Francisco appears more often in Dom Ro-
drigo's company, but the good-natured chaplain remained on
amicable terms with everyone. The natives, too, seem to have
liked him very much. He lived for eighteen months as guest in
the house of a certain Abaht Ras, a man with thirty children
and three wives. Perhaps Padre Francisco expounded the mer-
its of monogamy to him, for before his visitor had left, the
Ras had cut down his conjugal staff to one, the youngest and
most recent wife alone being retained.

The Abyssinians did not see much harm in polygamy. No
civil law proscribed it, and the Church's attitude was vague.
Also there were advantages attendant on repeated marriages,
for the newly wed enjoyed a month's dispensation from fasts.
"Some of my friends," Padre Francisco says, "used to marry
new wives on the Thursday before Lent, merely to have the
privilege of eating meat"

It is not surprising if carnally minded people tried to evade
the rigours of Ethiopian Lent This was no mere abstention,

94

A Prolonged Visit

as in Europe, but literal starvation on bread and water for six
weeks. The surrounding Moslems were so well aware of this
that they always chose the Lenten fast for their incursions.
During those forty days they knew that they would find their
enemy too weak to put up much resistance.

It might be thought that one such fast in twelve months
would satisfy the most ascetic spirit, but devout souk im-
proved upon it. Some monks would not even eat bread, but
only husks and water. Many persons carried their austerities
beyond the Lenten period. Throughout the year the pious
Queen Helena took her meals only on Tuesdays, Thursdays,
Saturdays, and Sundays.

Mortification of the flesh did not stop at starvation. There
were people who never sat down during Lent. There were
men and women who spent the night up to their necks in
water, and this at altitudes where "at this season are great
cold and frost" Other penitents passed days and weeks in
deep open graves where they could barely move. Padre Fran-
cisco visited more than one of these in their reclusion. * e They
have/* he says, "a ledge three fingers wide on which they sit,
and two on either side to take their elbows, while in the wall
in front a niche has been cut to hold a book."

Such austerities, Pero da Covilham assured him, were very
common in Ethiopia. As for hermits, one might be found in
almost every cave. He led Francisco Alvares by desert places
to where a deep gorge cut the mountains. A torrent hurling
itself from dizzy heights into the dark abyss filled the air
around with spray that looked like snow. Pero da Covilham
pointed through the water mist to a cavern's mouth far down
the rocky wall. "A monk lives there who passes for a saint," he
said. Still farther down the chasm another cave was dimly
visible. There, said Father Francisco's guide, a mysterious
white man had done penance for twenty years. Nobody knew
who he was or whence he came or when he died- One day the
opening of his cavern was found to be walled up. The Em-

95

The Land of Prester John

peror ordered that it should not be disturbed, and so the secret
of the human tragedy that met its end behind that rock was
guarded there for ever.

Though all their mountains were peopled with holy men,
yet it was to the foreign priest that the Ethiopians appealed
to rid the country of a plague of locusts. Padre Francisco
Alvares rose to the occasion. His methods, which he has de-
scribed himself, were engagingly simple: Besides appropriate
prayers and processions, he wrote out a manifest, exhorting
the locusts "under pain of excommunication, to move off
within three hours and betake themselves to the sea, or to
Moslem lands, or to wildernesses of no use to Christians. And
if they failed to do this, the birds of the air and the beasts of
the field, hailstones and tempests were called down upon them
to destroy them. I had a number of these locusts caught, and
thus admonished them in their own name and that of the
absent . . . after which I let them depart in peace." This ap-
peal to the finer feelings of the insects was not made in vain.
The locusts disappeared!

On the whole, the Portuguese enjoyed their stay in Abys-
sinia. With the adaptability characteristic of their race they
made themselves at home. But the uncertainty of when, or if,
they weore to get away must have been rather wearing. Until
1523 they had no news of either Portugal or India, The fleet
that called at Massawa that year managed to get letters de-
livered to Dom Rodrigo, In these the commander, Dom Luiz
de Menezes, announced that the delegation would be waited
for until April 15. It was on April 15 that Dom Rodrigo re-
ceived the letter, and he was at a week's journey from the
coast!

This was a blow, as may be easily imagined, but the mail
contained even worse news than that The great Dom Manuel
was dead He had died over a year ago, in December 1521.

Weirds cannot describe the consternation carried by these
tidings. In these days when royal prestige stands or falls with
a prince's personality, it is difficult to understand what that

96

A Prolonged Visit

man represented to his subjects* hearts. Historians fail to show
us any outstanding gifts of mind or charm of character in Dom
Manuel. We find in him no glaring vice, but neither do there
seem to be exalted virtues. He was just Manuel the Fortunate,
who reaped what his predecessors had sown and wore the
laurels plucked for him by others. His personality eludes us
altogether. During twenty-six years we see him raised aloft,
impassive in his splendour, watching his far-called navies
fade away, while the East cast glittering offerings at his feet,
and heroes kissed his hand and went to die at the world's end.
But he was "El Rei, nosso Senhor" the serene and gorgeous
symbol before whom a conquering generation bent the knee.
They did not look for personality in him. Their loyal affec-
tion was obviously quite sincere, but they must have loved
him after the manner that sailors can love a wooden figure-
head.

His death was signalled as a national calamity. When Du-
arte de Menezes, then Governor of India, received the news,
we are told that he emitted a wild cry and smote his own face
with the baleful letter. Dom Rodrigo did not behave quite so
dramatically, but he and all the embassy dissolved in tears.
To exhibit their grief to all around, they shaved their heads
after the custom of Ethiopian mourners. What had happened?
inquired the natives sympathetically. Dom Rodrigo was too
overcome by sorrow to reply, but Padre Francisco found his
tongue. "The moon and stars have fallen and the sun is dark-
ened," he told them with Oriental imagery, "for our King
Dom Manuel is dead and we are orphaned."

The Emperor politely ordered three days* official mourning
in the land, during which time all booths were closed and
business ceased, who inherits the realms of the King my
f ather?" he asked Dom Rodrigo, who had returned to court
Dom Rodrigo answered that it was the young Prince Dom
Joao. "Such a good father is bound to have a good son/* ob-
served Lebna Dengel soothingly. **I will write him a letter.*

So a new set of letters were laboriously produced, addressed

97

The Land of Prcstcr John

to "my brother** Dom Joao III. "We two together can destroy
the world," suggests the Negus cheerfully. "Write to me," he
furthermore entreats. "Because, seeing your letters, it will
appear to me as if I saw your face, and greater love exists be-
tween those who dwell apart from one another than between
those who are near." Since he grasped this important truth,
why was he so censorious of the European longs? "Sir
Brother," he writes smugly r "I disapprove of the kings of Eu-
rope, because though they are Christian they are not of one
heart, but make war upon one another all the time. Had I a
Christian long for neighbour, I should never quarrel with
him."

This effusion seems to have taken a month and a half to get
ready, at the end of which time the Emperor gave to the dele-
gates rich clothes and golden chains, eighty ounces of gold,
and a hundred cloths for the expenses of the way, besides a
mule for each one to ride, and so dismissed them with his
blessing. The party, rather uselessly, journeyed to Massawa.
Of course the fleet had sailed weeks before, so they returned
to court

They f ound the Emperor was absorbed in a new study. He
had awaked to a sudden interest in the map of the world
given him by the Portuguese some years ago. Would Padre
Francisco explain it to him and have the names of all the
countries that it showed translated into Amharic? With the
assistance of Saga Zaab, each country was duly labelled, and
Lebna Dengel had his first geography lesson. That was Italy,
his mentor pointed out, and that was France, that one was
Spain, and this, they said complacently, was Portugal.

The Emperor pondered. Was that really Portugal? said he.
But it was very little! How could so small a country be ex-
pected to hold the Red Sea against the Turks? Might it not
be wiser to ask the King of Spain to build a fortress at Zeila,
the King of France to erect another one at Suakin, while Por-
tugal could occupy Massawa? So disconcerting a result of
Pf ester John the roundness of the world" had not

A Prolonged Visit

been anticipated. The Portuguese began to wish that they had
been less anxious about his education.

Portugal, Dom Rodrigo declared with conviction, needed
neither the King of Spain nor that of France to hold her for-
tresses against Egypt and Turkey. Besides, he added, patriot-
ism rising above the fetters of scientific truth, maps were very
misleading. Their designers naturally did not devote much
space to a country so well known as Portugal. Look also at
Venice, Jerusalem/ and Rome world-famous cities all of
them how tiny they appear upon the map! It was the ob-
scure and unexplored portions of the earth that took up the
most room, because instead of names one had to fill them up
with lions and elephants and mountains. Let him observe
his own Ethiopia on this map. It occupied much space merely
because the land was little known. It seems that this strange
explanation was accepted by the Emperor, for we hear no
more of calling in the King of France.

A few days after this, Lebna Dengel announced his inten-
tion of writing to the Pope. How did one write a letter to the
Pope? he asked Dom Rodrigo de Lima. Dom Rodrigo, who
had never carried on a correspondence with the Holy See,
seems to have been quite scared and flustered at the thought.
They had not come to Abyssinia to write letters, he declared,
nor would any member of his staff be equal to the task of
writing to the Pope.

Padre Francisco, however, was prepared to rise to the occa-
sion. He would word the opening paragraphs for the Impe-
rial scribes, he said, and they would "follow up with what
was in their hearts." "Bring all your books/" they said, "then
we can begin."* Padre Francisco replied that he had BO need
of books, and sat down then and there and wrote out the first
lines, to the wondering delight of the Ethiopians. The docu-
ment was handed round respectfully. He had not looked at
any book, they cried; alone he did it! After which, by the usual
processes, they completed the letter.

TPadre/* said Dom Rodrigo unhappily when the chaplain

The Land of Prester John

returned to his tent, "I wish that I had not told them that
there was no one among us who knew how to write to the
Pope. They will conclude that we are rather ignorant men.
I hope that you will come out strong, and do what you are
able!"

Til or well/" Father Francisco answered modestly, "it is
done, as you see." So saying, he produced his letter, and Dom
Rodrigo was very pleased.

To Lebna Dengel, a letter to the Pope meant no more than
an exchange of compliments with the head of the Western
Church. It did not imply the slightest desire on his part to
adopt Latin rites. To Padre Francisco, however, it seemed a
step towards reunion. He gladly agreed to be the Emperor's
messenger to Rome and carry Lebna DengeFs letter to the
Pope, together with a little golden cross.

Prester John resolved to send an ambassador to Portugal as
welL Would Saga Zaab be a suitable person? he asked, and
they assured him that the choice could not be better. "Already
he understood us, and we him."

In spite of all these preparations or perhaps because of
them another fleet was missed in 1524, but 1526 found the
delegation upon the Bahr Nagach's territory in good time for
the navigating season. They were quite unprepared for the
next blow.

Were they waiting for the fleet? the Moslems of Massawa
asked them happily. Then they would wait for a long time.
Tbere was no Portuguese fleet in all the Indian Ocean any
more there were no Portuguese in Indial Both men and ships
were aH destroyed wiped out annihilated! The Crescent
now reigned supreme from coast to coast.

This was appalling news. The delegation saw themselves
condemned to perpetual exile. What were they to do? Return
to court at once, said Dom Rodrigo de Lima; but the others
had no wish to wander back inland.

Padre Francisco sat down by a stream alone and wept. But
his cheerful disposition soon reasserted itself. "Now, this thing

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A Prolonged Visit

comes from God," he reflected, "and if it is His will that I
should remain here, the Lord always be praised! I know this
country better than any native because I go hunting, and I
know the mountains and the streams, and the fertile soil that
will give all that may be planted or sown." On the strength of
this knowledge he would remain on this spot and take to
farming. He had some good slaves and fourteen cows and
rams that he could exchange for ewes. He would settle where
there was water and till the soil and sow and plant. He would
build a little chapel in which to say Mass, and he would live
upon his own produce.

He returned, greatly cheered, to his companions and set
forth his scheme. The Portuguese is rare who finds no charm
in agriculture, and everybody thought the chaplain's idea
excellent All volunteered to join him. They knew the country
and they knew the ropes. They would carry their fruit and
vegetables to sell at neighbouring markets. For distraction
they would hunt and fish. It might not be a bad life on the
whole. "They all embraced me except Dom Rodrigo/* Dom
Rodrigo, it seems, still hankered for the court; the rest agreed
to settle there and make the best of it.

Upon this atmosphere of philosophic resignation Padre
Francisco's native servant, Abetai, burst in.

The Portuguese! 1 " he shouted. *The Portuguese are on the
sea!"

"Are you sure what you are saying, Abetai?" his master ex-
claimed, electrified.

Abetai was. A man arriving from the coast had Just gone to
tell the local chief.

The Portuguese sat up all night to waylay this man, but,
after all, the news he brought was vague. Shots had been
heard off the island of DahlaL That might have been any-
thing. Perhaps the Turks!

Three days of suspense were endured, and then the whole
fleet swung serenely into Massawa, The scare had been en-
tirely without foundation. Not only had there been no defeat,

101

The Land of Prester John

there had not even been a battle* A galley had been captured
by Moslems near the Gulf of Cambay. No other origin could
be ascribed to the fantastic tale.

This time the delegation really got away. In the joy of de-
parture Francisco Alvares did not forget his old patron, Du-
arte Galvao, who for nine years had been lying in an obscure
grave at Kamaran. The faithful chaplain had marked the spot,
and he found it again when the fleet halted beside the island.
Sailors are superstitious folk and they considered it unlucky
to embark a corpse, but Padre Francisco secretly by night un-
earthed the bones. "I found them all, 7 * he says, "except the
teeth." These remains were enclosed in a casket and smug-
gled on board. Antonio Galvao, sole survivor of the dead man's
sons, received them reverently in India.

On July 24, 1527 the wanderers arrived in Portugal. Some
of them had been away for eight and others for twelve years.
How often on sweltering days on Abyssinian plains or Red
Sea beaches the travellers must have sighed for the fresh
breezes of their native land! Yet, such is the irony of fate, they
disembarked in Lisbon, Francisco Alvares affirms, "beneath
the greatest heat that I have ever known.** These wanderers
seasoned to earth's hottest climates were knocked out by a
European summer day! More than that They tell us that two
Red Sea Arabs of their party died of heatstroke, under a bridge
at Santarem!

102

PART H
HOW PORTUGAL SAVED PRESTER JOHN

The Patriarch's Recruits

The Emir Mahfuzh's trunldess head was preserved as a tro-
phy in the royal tents of Ethiopia. On Saturdays and Sundays
and all festivals the Abyssinian maidens and young men made
merry with the grisly toy, while Lebna Dengel gazed upon
the shrivelled features of his enemy and felt like David look-
ing at Goliath's head. 1

"God has granted me repose from all my enemies," he had
written to Dom Manuel in 1521. "In all the confines of my
lands, each time I march against the infidels they fly before
my face/' 2 Thus Lebna Dengel boasted in the pride of his vic-
torious youth. God granted him this rest for five years more,
and then an enemy arose who did not fly before him.

Ahmed-ibn-Ibrahim el Ghazi was the avenger's name, and
he was son-in-law to the decapitated Emir. The terrible left-
handed Imam Ahmed, once an obscure Somali warrior from
Harrar, had risen to supremacy among the Moslem tribes.
The Portuguese refer to him as King of Zeila, but this, it
seems, was inexact. Whether or not Ahmed was a king, he
wielded the same power. The conquering Turks of Egypt and
the Red Sea were his allies. They furnished him with firearms
and munitions and placed troops of janizaries at his command.
With such support Grany (toe Left-handed One) became
Ethiopia's scourge. Raid followed raid, and battle followed

105

The Land of Prester John

battle. Fire and sword devoured villages; churches and mon-
asteries were burned and harvests lost. During decades of
misery the warfare never ceased.

Lebna Dengel was a fighter. He fought and lost and fought
again. The noblest of Ethiopia were slain fighting at his side.
His eldest son was killed in battle, and the second carried
away captive into Arabia to the Pasha of Zebid. His beautiful
Queen, Sabla Vangel, with her younger children, was a refu-
gee for many years on the most inaccessible of Abyssinia's
mountains. Vainly the enemy prowled round this eagle's nest.
Granye longed to seize the lovely woman for his own harem,
but her citadel was inexpugnable, and Sabla Vangel's youth
and beauty faded on the mountain-top. 3

In all those weary years her husband never sheathed his
sword. Disaster followed disaster and left him undismayed.
One by one he saw his provinces laid waste. He saw himself
abandoned by his chiefs, who, despairing of their country's
liberty, cut their own losses by deserting to the victor. He
found himself hard pressed and driven back from one moun-
tain stronghold to another, while the iron circle of his f oemen
slowly clewed around. Himself a shadowy ruler with the rem-
nant of a kingdom, he saw all these things clearly, yet with a
small and faithful band Lebna Dengel fought on; he still re-
fused all humiliating terras of peace, and died in 1540 still
unconquered and still fighting.

What then of his royal ally, his "brother," Dom Joao III?

The alliance between Portugal and Abyssinia was theoreti-
cally a splendid thing. In practice it had one serious drawback:
the relative geographical position of the allies was such that
regular communications were not easy to establish. The fort
of Massawa was to have been the link but the fort of Mas-
sawa had not been built The appearance of the Portuguese
beyond Bab-el-\f andeb continued to be meteoric and irregu-
lar, "Close very securely - the doors of the Straits," had
been Albuquerque's dying counsel to Don Manuel, 4 but this
advice was disregarded. Long after Albuquerque's death the

106

The Patriarch's Recruits

"doors'* were open still, and the Turks had occupied most of
the ports of the Red Sea. Their supremacy was challenged
from time to time. Every few years a Portuguese fleet swept
up to Jidda and to Tor, carrying devastation into the enemy's
strongholds. But having bombarded and burned, the Chris-
tians sailed away. They made no settlement by the Red Sea,
and Abyssinia remained isolated.

Dom Joao III at the time, unconscious of Ethiopia's plight,
was more interested in the Inquisition than in Prester John.
The King's ambassador at Rome was using every diplomatic
wile to persuade the Pope to have the Holy Office established
in Portugal. Till that boon was obtained, other matters were
shelved. Poor Padre Francisco Alvares, who had travelled to
Rome with Lebna Dengel's letter, was kept waiting for his an-
swer indefinitely. The Portuguese ambassador, quite en-
grossed by the question of the Inquisition, would do nothing
to remind the Pope of the remote affairs of Abyssinia.

In Lisbon the equally unhappy Saga Zaab marked time. He
could not go home until he had the answers of both King and
Pope. When years passed and he did not return, Lebna Den-
gel grew furious with his innocent ambassador. What was the
man doing, the Emperor wondered angrily, to stay away so
long? He resolved to send another envoy after him the Patri-
arch himself.

Needless to say, it was not Mark. That gentle centenarian
was already dead, and Alexandria had not been called upon
to find him a successor. A new Abuna was recruited on the
spot how qualified it would be difficult to say, for in the
freshly appointed head of the Abyssinian Church we recog-
nize the physician Mestre Joao!

How Ae metamorphosis happened is not dear. The prac-
tice of medicine does not as a rale lead to supreme ecclesiasti-
cal honour, but Mestre Joao appears to have been one of those
fortunate conceited people who manage to be taken at their
own face value. Mestre Joao fancied the role of Abuna, which
high function he felt that he would worthily adorn, and it

107

The Land of Prester John

seems that he got Lebna Dengel to agree with him. The law-
fulness of the investiture has more than once been queried,
but lawful or otherwise, it suited the Negus that his Patriarch
should be a Portuguese. Thus Mestre Joao makes his shining
reappearance on this page as Dom Joao Bermudez, high pon-
tiff of the Abyssinian Church.

The ex-physician was nothing loath to visit Europe arrayed
in his new glory. There Lebna Dengel dispatched him, in
1535, that he might call Saga Zaab to order and expound Abys-
sinia's straits to Dom Joao III.

Travellers to Europe from Ethiopia had two routes from
which to choose: that of the sea via India and the Cape,
which meant waiting at Massawa for the uncertain arrival of
the Portuguese fleet, or the overland route up the Nile Valley,
by which you could save time if you were lucky enough to be
captured neither by the Turks in Egypt nor by pirates in the
Mediterranean afterwards. Dom Joao Bermudez chose the
shorter and more risky road. **I was caught by the Turks and
nearly lolled,** he tells us, in spite of which he seems to have
reached Europe in great form.

His mission was entirely a success according to himself.
Tile King received him graciously, and the Pope was delighted
to do him honour. The guilty Saga Zaab, like a dog with its
tail between its legs, came meekly slinking up to kiss the
Patriarch's hand, whereupon *I had him loaded with chains,"
says Dom Joao Bermudez fiercely.

Dom Joao III the Patriarch is our informant still gladly
conceded everything that Lebna Dengel asked. He promised
to send help to Abyssinia, and arranged to have the Patriarch
sail for India with the new Viceroy, Dom Garcia de Noronha,
who *was happy to take me with him.** But having been poi-
soned (he supposes) by that villain Saga Zaab, I suddenly
feD ill,** and could not leave that year which must have been
a blow for Dom Garcia!

All the King's physicians were summoned to the bedside of
the interesting invalid, and, thanks to their care, the Patriarch

108

The Patriarch's Recruits

was restored to health in time to sail with the 1539 fleet for
Goa, where again we have his word for it he was received
with overwhelming honours.

The Viceroy, Joao Bermudez states, was most attentive to
him > and prepared to lead a fleet to Massawa without delay.
Thither Dom Joao Bermudez would have sailed that year
with an imposing escort, but Dom Garcia died of dysentery at
Cochin, and the privilege of carrying the Patriarch to the Red
Sea was left to his successor. . . .

Dom Joao Bermudez's account of his own triumphs reads
well. We ought to be impressed. Unfortunately, there exists
a nasty little document a letter written some years later by
Dom Joao III to the Negus which tells another tale. The
King, it seems, had not admired the Patriarch if Patri-
arch indeed he were, which fact Dom Joao doubts: "I do
not believe him to be more than a simple priest, and of the
powers that he says the Holy Father granted him, I know
nothing at all." 5

Unimpressed though he was by the messenger, it is certain
that the King did not ignore the message. Existing records tell

o o o o

us little on the subject, except of course the narrative of Dom
Joao Bermudez, from which we gather that the sole objective
of the cruise to the Red Sea in 1541 was to carry him to Mas-
sawa, together with an expeditionary force entirely organized
by him and under his supreme command. The impression
given by the chronicles, however, is that the Patriarch was
just an incident and not the pivot of the voyage! Nor is there

letters that the Governor's brother wrote to the King before
he sailed. 6 This new Governor, Dom Estevao da Gama, who
arrived in India from Malacca, found among his predecessor's
papers instructions to lead a fleet up to Suez, destroying all
the Turkish ports, and he at once prepared to do so.

The fleet called at Massawa to make repairs, and there they
heard the latest Ethiopian news. It was not very cheerful
Lebna Dengel had died six months before, and Galawdewos

109

The Land of Prester John

(or Claudius), his son, was reigning over what was left of
Abyssinia, supported by such chiefs as had not yet deserted.
Galawdewos was very young and felt entirely lost. The enemy
was as numerous as ever and more active. The Emperor had
no firearms nor munitions to oppose their guns, and most of
his subjects were traitors. No wonder that, in the words of
Dom Joao de Castro, "he wrote letters that were more than
piteous and miserable, on all of which above his signature was
depicted Our Lord Jesus crucified."

Dom Estevao da Gama had no time just then to consider
these heart-rending appeals, for he was in a hurry to proceed
to Suez. He decided to leave the heavy ships at Massawa
while he took the lighter craft up the Red Sea. Massawa was
supposed to be subject to the Abyssinian Empire, but the

tribute to the Negus. An enterprising scallywag one of
Granye's chief men had taken possession of the port and
styled himself King of Massawa. When the Portuguese fleet
appeared, however, the "king'* had modestly withdrawn and
held himself at a safe distance several leagues away. Dom
Estevao sent a message after him: "Pay me twenty seraphims
for the expenses of this fleet, and give me Suez pilots, if you
would not have me destroy the land."

The "King of Massawa* made answer that he had no money
and he had no Suez pilots, but he could offer two for Suakin
and Dom Estevao might destroy the land if he saw fit.

Dom Estevao, obliged to own that you cannot lay waste a
desert, accepted such pilots as could be had. Thus he sailed,
leaving his kinsman, Manuel da Gama, at Massawa in com-
mand of the larger ships*

The Patriarch, of course, also remained. He had been, he
tells us, overcome with grief at Lebna DengeFs death. He
would have liked to die. But the Governor and all the impor-
tant people in the fleet had gathered round him to console
him. They visited me many times, so I took courage.** Mean-
while, a messenger was sent to advise Galawdewos of the am-

110

The Patriarch's Recruits

bassador's return. The Emperor was requested to send some-
body who would take charge of Dom Joao Bermudez.

The Emperor's camp was far away in the mountains of
Shoa. Weeks must elapse before the messenger returned. The
Patriarch, now reconciled to life, waited in Manuel da Gama's
ship and proved a source of trouble.

As may have been observed, Joao Bermudez was a man
whom dignity inflates, and that of Patriarch had swelled him
up to bursting-point. In Abyssinia, he informs us, the Patriarch
enjoys the same consideration as the Pope in Europe. He was
therefore dazzled by his own importance and he wished to
dazzle others too. The more the land of his adoption was ex-
tolled, the brighter shone his own reflected glory. Thus he
talked of Abyssinia constantly and he talked very big. Men
listened open-mouthed to his tales of the greatness and riches
of that enchanted land and the magnificence of its monarch.
Silver and gold were as little to the Xegus as they had been to
his ancestor Solomon. There was nothing that he would deny
to those who fought for him. His empire was the place where
every able-bodied man could win a fortune. Abyssinia was
the land of all delights.

It was the more tantalizing that the men were actually dy-
ing at Massawa. Massawa was everything unpleasant. "The
heat of this country is unbelievable!** groans an unknown
writer who had sampled it himself. It was also unhealthfuL
Manuel da Gama was soon obliged to set up a hospital ashore,
and new patients entered it daily to die "of an illness that
lasted only two days. They felt a great pain in their chests,
and after this had started they could live no longer." For those
who were not ill there was nothing to do and, worse still,
hardly anything to eat. Either through faulty organization or
owing to lack of funds, the ships* stores had given out, and
supplies had to be purchased on land. They had to buy food
out of their own pay; they were poor and it was very dear,
wherefore "besides the heat, we suffered so from hunger that
a hen was paid for in gold, and everything else in proportion-

111

The Land of Prester John

Well might the men consider the time that they spent here as
the worst in their lives." T

The days dragged on, Governor did not return, and Manuel
da Gama* was unpopular. He seems to have been as harsh a
commander as the great Vasco himself, without the same gifts.
"He was so difficult to live with," one writer declares, "that
nobody could stand him." 8 The men began to grumble openly.
Since they had been abandoned in this hole, why should
they not travel to the land of plenty and take service with
Prester John?

The Patriarch applauded the suggestion. It seems that the
King had given him authority to raise volunteers for Prester
John. Placing a broad interpretation upon this permission,
Dom Joao Bermudez encouraged would-be deserters from
the fleet. He was lavish with promises on the Emperor's be-
half, and made endowments right and left on paper. He
looked forward, no doubt, to appearing before Prester John
backed by a strong contingent, but he overreached himself at
last. His glowing tales made men's mouths water and they
could not wait One by one they slipped ashore and disap-
peared. Vainly Manuel da Gama proclaimed that under pain
of death no volunteers might go inland except when Dom
Joao Bermudez went, and subject to the Governor's leave.
Evasions still continued.

The Patriarch's propaganda brought about yet more serious
results. Some eighty or a hundred men made up their minds
to escape all together. They collected their muskets and their
swords. They chose a captain Antonio Correa 9 and a
guide was engaged ashore to lead them to the Emperor's
camp. They stole a boat one night and rowed away, quite de-
termined that nothing would turn them back.

The watchmen saw them go and sounded the alarm. Ma-
nuel da Gama with a boatload of armed men launched out in
pursuit He ordered the fugitives to be fired upon, but the
gunners' sympathies were on the side of the deserters, and
as they did not shoot with a good wffl, all missed the mark." 10

112

The Patriarch's Recruits
The adventurers landed safelv on the beach and organized

j O

their little band. They had a fife and drum to enliven the way,
and a pennon to carry before them. The guide was found at
the appointed place, and, full of hope, they plunged into the
desolate hinterland.

All night long they followed their guide across the black
and burning mountains where "the sun had left such heat that
it seemed to be shining still.** The path was steep and rough
and rocky. After scrambling for some hours over these
scorched stones, breathing the fiery dryness of the desert air,
the travellers were afflicted by a maddening thirst. Here was a
detail that they had overlooked in their light-hearted escape.
They had thought of drums and trumpets and guns, but it ap-
pears that they had brought no water, and none could be
found in this stricken wilderness. As the heat and discomfort
increased, "they shouted to the guide to take them where
they could find water." If they had to walk on in this oven
they must drink.

The guide "showed great good will and led them into some
valleys between mountains, saying that there was water far-
ther down." Gasping, but happily expectant, the adventurers
plodded on. Under the paling stare of dawn they plunged
into the narrow gorge and straight into an ambush.

Then *our men understood that the guide had deceived
them that they might all be slain, and so they killed him and
began to fight the Moors with their guns, and the Moors with
arrows and slings which showered so many stones upon them
that they did not know what to do; none the less, the guns
did much harm to the Moors and kept them at a distance.

These Moors were men of the King of Zeila and the King
of Massawa . . . with them were Turkish musketeers; but
the worst evfl [for the Portuguese] was the great thirst from
which they suffered*

Antonio Correa was the first man to be killed, but another
captain was appointed hastily, and the battle continued. The
fugitives fought desperately, and the struggle might have

118

The Land of Prcstcr John

been prolonged if the Moslems had not devised a stratagem.

They suddenly cried out that the fighting should cease. It
had started only by mistake. They really were all Christians
and loyal vassals of Prester John! They had supposed the Por-
tuguese were robbers at first sight hence the attack. Now
that daylight had revealed their true identity, why not make
peace?

Hostilities were suspended at once, but some of the Por-
tuguese remained suspicious. It would be more prudent, they
said, to go on fighting. But the majority were frantic with
thirst and could not think of anything but their longing for
water. The risen sun shone on an arid waste; they had no
guide, and if they killed these men, who could lead them to
where there was something to drink? The improvised captain
especially felt that he could endure the agony no longer. "He
was f eeble," comments Caspar Correa, who was used to com-
manders made of sterner stuff. This man prevailed upon his
comrades to make peace, at which the Moslems all embraced
the Portuguese like long-lost brothers. Did they want water?
asked the kindly souls; they should have some at oncel So they
were led, all unsuspecting, to the King of Zeila's tent.

The terrible Grany was sitting with his hands devoutly
clasped about a string of beads to which was hung a little
wooden cross. Reverently he handed this chaplet to the Por-
tuguese captain. "I say my prayers with these/* Granye ex-
plained.

The fugitives were in no inood to query the sincerity of his
devotions. Could they have water? they implored their pious
host, who brought gourds full of water then and there. The
sight was too much for parched and weary men. Oblivious of
aff else, they cast their weapons to the ground and drank
They drank and drank and drank, and then loosened their
belts to drink still more.

Hie Moors, meanwhile, laughing and chatting pleasantly,
picked up the muskets, swords, and lances and examined
them- It aB was done in such an innocent and casual manner

114

The Patriarch's Recruits

that the Portuguese paid no attention. They were only roused
from their orgy of w*ater-drinking when "the Moors, having
taken possession of most of the weapons, attacked the Portu-
guese with them, killing and wounding as many as they
could."

"Surrender/* cried the King, "and your lives will be spared.**
As nearly all of them were disarmed and defenceless, this ap-
peared the only thing to do, but fourteen valiant souls refused.
"Unfortunate men!" they shouted to their comrades. "Why
surrender to traitors? Die like men, for they will loll you cru-
elly!" So saying, they grasped what weapons they had left,
and stood tiieir ground and died. In a few minutes all was
over. But one man out of the fourteen had the presence of
mind, as he fell wounded to the ground, to roll over and lie
still as if dead, face downward in his blood. With rigid self-
control he played the corpse all day, and so he witnessed his
companions* fate.

"Those that had surrendered, the Moors bound hand and
foot; they stripped them naked, and shut them in a cattle-
pen.** Towards evening the Moors lined up outside on horse-
back, with all their lances bristling in the fading light. "They
ordered the pen to be opened, loosed one of the captives, anct
bade him come out to where the King and his captains sat
on their horses by the door. As the wretched prisoner emerged,
thus naked, the King thrust at him with his spear and gave
him the first wound, and then the others did the same, and all
tormented him.** As soon as the victim fell dead, a second was
called out, and so the ghastly game continued until no one
was left. "And when the sun had cooled, the Moors loaded
their packs and removed to another place, because of all the
dead men that lay there.**

The living man, alone among the dead, stffl dared not move
for hours. It was only after stifling darkness had blotted out
the scene of horror that, by a superhuman effort, he rose. The
way back to the coast was long, and his wounds were severe,
but the horrors that he had seen that day gave him unnatural

115

The Land of Prcstcr John

strength. Step by step, and watching constantly, he dragged
himself in the direction of the sea. All through the hours of
darkness, like a hunted thing, he strained on in his halting
flight, until at dawn, from a hilltop, he saw the sea that stood
for his salvation. He struggled successfully across the inter-
vening wastes, reached the shore, and followed it to Arkiko
and Massawa. He finally rejoined his ship, but in what condi-
tion he arrived is not recorded.

"Sir," said the deserter to his commander-in-chief , *1 pre-
sent myself to you to punish as you may think fit, for all the
Portuguese who went from here to seek Prester John have met
with great chastisement."

They had met with no more than they deserved, said Ma-
nuel da Gama wrathfully. God executed judgment upon those
who disobeyed their King and the representatives of the royal
authority.

A storm of protests greeted these words. Whose fault was
it, his followers demanded of the captain, if starved and des-
perate men escaped and so met death? They had no governor
to help them and relieve their misery. What Manuel aa Gama
ought now to do was to lead an expeditionary force ashore in
order to avenge their slaughtered comrades. "There was not
a man who would not be delighted to undertake the work."

Manuel da Gama showed no wish to go. He said that he
was glad those Moors were there as a chastisement for the
disobedient Mutiny and desertion in the face of hardship
were against the Portuguese tradition. It seemed, he added
witheringly, "that now they wished to use the treachery and
evil ways of Italian soldiers men in whom is neither truth
nor law." And he reinforced his maxims by hanging five men
whom he accused of having known of the deserters* plans.

La the end he did attempt a punitive raid ashore, but the
Moslems disappeared into the landscape at the Portuguese
approach and wore nowhere to be found.

The five corpses were still hanging on the beach when the
Governor returned to Massawa. 11

116

Dom Cristovao to the
Rescue

Dom Estevao da Gama's cruise from Goa to Suez has been
immortalized by Dom Joao de Castro. That learned hero kept
a minute log of the whole voyage, from which we gather that
the fleet was back at Massawa by May 22. *

It was a triumphant return. Dom Estevao had carried out
his raid upon the Turkish ports with that brilliance and effi-
ciency to be expected of the great admiral's son, while the
prowess of the Governor's young brother, Dom Crist6vao, fur-
ther maintained the family tradition.

Their arrival at Massawa was hailed with joy. Manuel da
Gama, whose position had been fast growing untenable, was
thankful to hand over the supreme command, while the men
were happy to be delivered from Manuel da Gama. Thus har-
mony was automatically restored, and Dom Estevao was able
to turn his attention to the Abyssinian question.

It was dear that something had to be decided about this.
Tie Bahr Nagach had come to Massawa to fetch the Patri-
arch, and there the Governor found K a woebegone and
tearful Bahr Nagach. He was one of the few Abyssinian nobles
who were faithful, but even his own fatter had deserted to the
enemy. Trembling with emotion, and with eyes that ''streamed
like living fountains," the loyal Ethiopian pleaded his coun-
try's cause. Here was a Christian realm, he said, usurped by

117

The Land of Prester John

infidels a Christian people led into captivity. Prester John
implored his royal brother, who was champion of the weak,
to rescue him and to restore his lands, which really belonged
to the King of Portugal and were held in his name.

Such a humble and pathetic cry for help could not fall on
deaf ears. Dom Estevao assembled his captains at once and
asked them for their views. The answer was unanimous. Not
only did all agree that Prester John ought to be helped, but
everybody volunteered to go. It was finally decided that four
hundred men should be sent, and that number was easily
made up. To choose a captain for them was more difficult
Every fidalgo in the fleet implored the Governor to appoint
him, and Crist6vao da Gama, more especially, gave his brother
no peace.

Dom Estevao hesitated. He had enough foresight to esti-
mate what such an undertaking really meant. Dom Estevao
was a man of nearly forty and had ceased to see the world
through the enchanting glamour of first youth. To rush,off in
a white heat of crusading fervour to the rescue of a Christian
realm might be a holy and a glorious enterprise, but how was
it likely to end? Dom Estevao looked across the bay towards
that terrible hinterland where thunderclouds obscured the
distant mountains. Up in those fastnesses, above the coast like
an inferno swept by demon hordes, the citadel of African
Christianity still held It had stood for centuries like a rock
while the waves of Islam beat in vain about its base, but to-
day the rejuvenated forces of the conquering Turk had loosed
upon it all the fierce tribes of Somaliland and the hordes of
Arabia. And this rock was already undermined. What hope
was there for Abyssinia? It was a kingdom overrun and lost,
doomed by its own dissensions. The young ruler, abandoned
by his chiefs, clung to his dying empire, but the Christian
island was about to sink into the Moslem sea, Portugal, in hon-
our bound, had to send help, but what were four hundred
men to stem that tide? It was a forlorn hope.

Dom Estevao thought of all these things before lie chose a

118

Dam Cristovao to the Rescue

captain for the volunteers. It can only be my brother," he
announced at last. "I can sacrifice him, but I have no right to
risk the son of any other man.** *

Dom Cristovao da Gama was overjoyed to be the chosen
victim. He was a youth of twenty-f our with all his father's tire-
less energy and grim tenacity of purpose. He also shared the
family ability. It is certain that he was a young dare-devil, but
he had a good head on his shoulders and a gift for leadership.
Responsibility might safely rest with him. He and his selected
companions made their preparations enthusiastically. The
chief names recorded of that gallant band are Manuel da
Cunha, Joao da Fonseca, the brothers Inofre and Francisco
de Abreu, Francisco Velho, Luiz Rodrigues de Carvalho, and
Miguel de Castanhoso, who has told their tale.

The reverend Patriarch, of course, was of the party, though
he does not figure conspicuously in any narrative except his
own, from which account, however, we may gather the im-
pression that the real commander of the expedition was him-
self.

The soldiers were picked men, the best in all the fleet, and
very well equipped. Eight pieces of artillery were given them,
a good supply of ammunition, and a hundred muskets, besides
which each man carried a double set of arms. Dom Estevao
presented this smart little army to the Bahr Nagach.

~I have assembled these men whom you see," the Governor
said, "and I deliver them to you, together with my brother,
who is prepared to serve tifl death, as are also all the Portu-
guese who go with him. . . . Sir Brother," he added, embrac-
ing Dom Crist6vao, "remember before everything the service
of Our Lord. . . . And especially, I beg of you, that what you
least esteem should be your life.**

Dom Estevao was very loath to say good-bye to his young
brother. He seemed convinced that it was a last farewell. He
led him away alone by the seashore, where for a long while
file two sons of Vasco da Gama were seen pacing the beach
and talking to each other. Estevao wept as he embraced Cris-

119

The Land of Prester John

t6vao fervently before they rejoined their companions and the
expedition was officially dismissed.

The Governor took a banner of white damask embroidered
with a crimson satin cross and handed it to Dom Cristovao in
front of all his men. "Sir Brother," he said, "I deliver to your
keeping this standard of the King, our lord, bearing the em-
blem of Christ, and I charge you and command you on our
good father's blessing that you defend it and uphold it in
every way you can, as far as in you lies, with every power you
possess, and even with your life.**

"Senhor Governador," replied the young man proudly, T
trust in the Passion of Our Lord that while I live I shall per-
form such deeds that the King our lord will greatly thank
you for having placed this charge upon me. Time shall be wit-
ness."

Thus Dom Cristovao and his four hundred men set out on
the long trail while Dom Estevao went back sadly to his ship.

There was no sadness in the hearts of the young enthusiasts
who turned their faces to the distant mountains. They were
crusaders and knights-errant, with a throne to rescue and the
Infidel to fight They were embarking on a holy and a chival-
rous adventure that, if they lived, would cover them with
glory, and if they died meant certain paradise. Nothing dis-
couraged them, meanwhile not the long and tedious march
from Massawa into the heart of Abyssinia, neither the rough-
ness of the road, the blistering heat, nor even lack of water.
Each obstacle was gaily overcome as it arose. When the fiery
sunshine of June in the desert made day progress impossible,
they marched at night and slept by day instead. Since the
mules and camels given by the Bahr Nagach were insufficient
to mount everyone, all walked and used the beasts only to bear
the loads. When those vertiginous paths were reached at
which the camels jibbed and would not carry their burdens
any farther, Dom Cristovao and his men relieved the animals
and struggled up the mountains with the artillery upon their
backs.

120

Dom Cristovao to the Rescue

In this manner [writes Miguel de Castanhoso] we travelled for
six days, on the last of which we climbed so high a mountain that
to reach the top took us from dawn till dusk. And when we were
upon the summit, we discovered wide pastures and a cool and level
land where the air was very pure, and there was water clear and
good.

This was the tableland of Debaroa a paradise after the
arid wilderness. But it was a ruined paradise. The Moslem
scourge had passed over those fertile fields and laid them
waste. All signs of human life and cultivation were wiped out,
and the large church where the party rested for two days was
half demolished.

They travelled on across this pleasant region, "which we
enjoyed more than the hot country we had left" Here was
fresh air, and water in abundance, but the scene continued
to be one of smiling desolation. The villages were uninhab-
ited and the crops left to their fate, for the villagers had fled
before the Moors and hidden with their cattle in the moun-
tains.

On the outskirts of Debaroa a melancholy procession met
Dom Crist6vao. All the monks came out with crosses in their
hands and, chanting dolefully, they threw themselves at the
young captain's feet They welcomed him as their deliverer.
"Our Lord has brought him!" they cried. Tor fourteen years
the enemies of our holy faith have trodden down the land
and demolished His sanctuaries." Dom Crist6vao like an
apostle of God had been sent to save the people from captiv-
ity. T[ do not think," observes Miguel de Castanhoso, "that any
man could have been there without shedding a thousand
tears. 9 *

The monks then led their champion to prayers within the
ruined monastery, where elaborate carvings still remained
beneath an improvised roof of straw thatch.

The Bahr Nagach advised the Portuguese to camp at Deba-
roa until October, when the rainy season, just beginning,
would be ova:. Before then it would be difficult to join forces

121

The Land of Prestcr John

with Prester John. The Emperor, it appeared, had just suffered
a fresh defeat and was sheltering in high mountains some three
hundred leagues away. When the dry season set in, he would
no doubt march to meet his allies with what little army he
had left.

The Bahr Nagach, meanwhile, had tents pitched outside
Debaroa for the Portuguese, and the peasants brought them
what little produce they had left from their neglected fields.
These people came down from the heights and re-entered
their homes when Dom Crist6vao and his men arrived. Hope
had returned to Debaroa, for they felt that the white stran-
gers could not fail to save. Had not Dom Cristovao assured the
monks that "Our Lord would shortly restore their prosper-
ity"? And they took further comfort when he told them that
he came to their land for no other purpose than to expel the
Moors and to die for the Christian faith.

122

Dom Cnstovao and the |

T? l- - ^

Ethiopian Queen

Upon a platform perched above a precipice, Queen Sabla
Vangel mourned her widowhood. Besides her husband she
had lost two sons, and the eldest one surviving only eight-
een years old was fighting far away. While the young Em-
peror carried on the losing struggle for his father's throne, it
seemed that his family was doomed to end its days upon the
mountain-top. At least they were removed from any danger.
Above the world and out of it, Sabla Vangel with her mother,
two fair daughters, and a younger son had found a certain
refuge from their foes.

It was the strangest and the strongest fortress Nature ever
built, which only a winged enemy might storm. A huge bare
rock that tapered to a giddy height curved outward at the sum-
mit just as if the mountain wore a hat or else was balancing
a tray upon its head. The plateau so formed measured a quar-
ter of a league around and appeared inaccessible from down
below. It was, in fact, inaccessible to any casual climber, for
the breakneck spiral path that led up to the crest came to a
sudden end against a wall of rock. The last part of the ascent
could only be made in a swinging basket lowered from the
guardhouse seventy feet above.

A stronghold such as this could only be surprised by trea-
son, for hunger could not drive it to surrender. Upon this plat-

123

The Land of Prester John

form hung in space all cereals grew and flourished. Goats
multiplied upon the rocks, hens scratched there happily, and
innumerable swarms of bees provided honey. Two enormous
cisterns gathered in the yearly rains, providing water suffi-
cient for five hundred persons. Thus Sabla Vangel and her
children suffered no hardship on their island in the air, which,
Castanhoso observes* "appeared made by the hand of God
expressly to save this lady and her people from captivity, and
that a monastery of friars established up there should not be
destroyed." A monastery on such a site was inevitable. The
recluses of Abyssinia had the instincts of the chamois and
the eagle, and any retreat so hopelessly cut off could not fail
to find favour in their sight. But we should like to know how
the first ascension of that mountain was achieved!

From Debaroa, which was not far off, Dom Crist6vao dis-
patched two men to fetch the Queen. Manuel da Cunha and
Francisco Velho pitched their tents at the mountain foot and
sent to announce their arrival to the guard aloft

Sabla Vangel was thrilled. The Christian conquerors of the
East were coming to deliver her! With such an escort she
could safely leave her mountain. Let the messengers come
up at once, she said, that she might see and speak to them,
and she would prepare to come down with them next day.

The basket was let down the cliff ; the two white men were
hauled up onei by one and welcomed by the Queen as heaven-
sent guests. Sabla Vangel wept for joy. She called Dom Crist6-
vao and all the Portuguese her sons. She knew that she
would soon be avenged of her enemies, she said, now that the
Lord had sent these men to rescue Abyssinia.

Two days later a picturesque procession entered Debaroa.
Sabla Vangel rode side-saddle on a beautiful grey mule, ca-
parisoned with silks that swept the ground. A screen upheld
over the royal traveller concealed her form from curious-eyed.
The Bahr Nagach walked humbly at her bridle-rein. He was
naked to the waist and with a lion-skin flung across his shoul-

124

COASTS OF THE RED SEA IX 1513

Dom Cristovao and the Ethiopian Queen

ders, which dishabille was in accordance with the strictest
court etiquette. For an Abyssinian to be seen in the Imperial
presence fully dressed would be unpardonable presumption.

With blue and white pennons fluttering in the breeze, and
carrying their white and crimson flag, Dom Cristovao and all
his men turned out to meet the Queen. They were wearing
"their best clothes, which were very good." Sabla Vangel, too,
had made a toilet equal to the occasion, as was revealed when
she opened her screen. She was dressed in finest white Indian
cloths, under a grey satin cloak embroidered with golden
flowers. Her headdress, Castanhoso observed, was "after the
Portuguese f ashion," but a veil before her face hid all except
her eyes. Her approach was greeted by a roar of artillery and
crack of guns, while the troops lined up to form a guard of
honour on each side of the bewildered Queen.

Dom Cristovao stepped forward gallantly. His breeches and
his doublet were deep purple embroidered with gold; a
French cloak of bkck and gold hung from his shoulders,
and a black cap with a gold medallion completed the colour
scheme. He was a personable young man. The Queen re-
ceived him graciously and raised her veil while talking to him.

Dom Cristovao was ready with a little speech, which a
kneeling interpreter translated. He told her how the Gover-
nor of India, hearing of Ethiopia's plight, had sent them to
the rescue, and how they were all quite ready to die in defence
of the land. Sabla Vangel listened happily. Neither she nor
any prince on earth could repay them, she said, but only God.

In this manner Queen Sabla Vangel left the silent peace of
limitless horizons to join the martial stir and bustle of the
camp. She does not seem to have regretted the exchange. AS.
through that rainy season at Debaroa she was the hidden and
interested witness of her allies* activities. Peeping through the
aperture of her tent, she admired their shining arms, she lis-
tened enthralled to their fifes and drums, and she marvelled
at the elaborate military manoeuvres which Dom Cristovao

125

The Land of Prcstcr John

and his young sparks performed with a peculiar zest born of
the consciousness that the Queen and her ladies were look-
ing on.

There were less romantic things to do, however, than parad-
ing in front of the royal tent. Material of all lands had to be
collected for the coming campaign. Gun carriages were nec-
essary, and woodwork for the fortification of camps. To make
such 'things these young fidalgos all turned carpenters. 'We
cut the wood ourselves/* says Castanhoso, "and sawed it too,
because the natives have no skill for anything." Dom Crist6-
vao was the master of works, and "directed them as if he had
been born and brought up to such labours.** It was all part of
the day's work and he was very happy. Twenty-four carts
were constructed under his guidance. Animals, of course,
would be required to draw the vehicles, but they, too, were
obtained. "With the Queen's permission, we assaulted a few
Moslem villages, where we took many mules on which we
rode for until then we all went afoot and we also captured
many cows and oxen, which we trained to draw the carts."

Working by day, and maintaining armed watch by night,
they passed the winter and it was time to Join forces with
Prester John. Letters from him had already arrived. The Em-
peror was enthusiastic over the coining help. It was what
might be expected, he declared, from such a great King as
his brother. Besides, it had been prophesied of old that Abys-
sinia was to be saved by white men. As soon as weather made
it possible to take the road, the Emperor would set out to meet
the Portuguese.

The camp at Debaroa was raised on December 15. The
Queen and her women accompanied the army, besides two
hundred Abyssinian carriers.

Dom Cristdvao divided his forces into five captaincies of
fifty soldiers each, while the remaining men guarded the flag.
Two captains, turn and turn about, marched with the bag-
gage wagons, the rest riding ahead. Dom Crist6vao with four
men mounted on swift mules rode down the ranks twice daily

126

Dom Cristovao and the Ethiopian Queen

to make sure that all was well, and Miguel de Castanhoso,
bringing up the rear, was escort to the Queen.

It was a strenuous march. The transport of troops and war
material over Abyssinian mountains has never been an easy
matter, and in those days there were no facilities at all. "In
many places where the oxen could not draw the carts," says
Castanhoso, "we had to pull them up ourselves.** But a stage
upon the route was reached at which even this mode of trac-
tion failed. The carts stuck fast and could not be moved one
way or another. In vain Dom Cristovao scanned the rocky
heights that closed in on every side. There was neither path
nor trail where anything on wheels might pass. What was to
happen? asked Sabla Vangel in dismay. The men might climb
the mountains, but the wagons simply could not get across.

But Dom Cristovao was determined that they should. Im-
perturbably, he had his carts taken to pieces, and unscrewed
the various parts belonging to the artillery. He shouldered
everything that he could cany, and each one of his compan-
ions did likewise. It took us three days to climb those moun-
tains with our loads." But the top was reached at last, and
nothing left behind, to Sabla VangeTs great astonishment
There were no people like the Portuguese! she said with deep
conviction.

Upon those heights, whipped by a dry and icy wind, they
lingered to reassemble their carts. A little white town was
perched there aloft, and on the highest peak (of course!) a
hermitage. The trail that led there was better designed for
goats than for the human foot, but the travellers, it seems,
had still the energy to climb up and explore. Within the her-
mitage a strange sight met their eyes. No recluse occupied
these walls, only three hundred mummies of white men
"sown up in thongs of dry and worn-out leather. The bodies
were almost perfect, with only nose, lips, and some fingers
missing."

Nobody was able to explain the origin of these mysterious
human remains, though the natives afl agreed that they ware

127

The Land of Prestcr John

centuries old. One tradition had it that they were men who
had conquered the land in Roman times. Others preferred to
think that these were saints, for did not sanctity preserve a
corpse? They were both saints and martyrs, affirmed Dom
Joao Bennudez, on the strength of which assertion some men
prudently laid in a stock of holy relics.

Miguel de Castanhoso accepted this theory with reserve.
Certainly, he says, there seems to be some mystery here. But
the mere desiccation of dead bodies does not strike him as
miraculous, even the living in this air risk being shrivelled up,
for *I have never been in any country where it was so dry
and cold.**

Leaving the nameless dead to their eternal sleep, the troops
resumed the march.

No Moslems had been encountered as yet, for the King of
Zeila still was far away. Such few of his officials as were in
the villages to levy tribute made themselves scarce when the
army appeared, and everywhere the peasants offered their
allegiance to the royal flag. Districts that had been conquered
by the Moors at once surrendered, and now some chiefs who
still were faithful dared to express their sentiments and join
the Queen. But the number of Ethiopian chiefs who had
imblushingly deserted astonished Castanhoso's honest soul
Prester John, he says, could never have been brought so low
if his people had been as loyal as the Portuguese.

They were now approaching the first stronghold conquered
by the King of Zeila irom the Emperor. This was the famous
Amba Sanayt, another of Abyssinia's natural fortresses. The
beautiful and fertile tableland above could only be reached
by one of three passes, any of which had to be climbed in full
view of the garrison aloft. Two of these ways of approach
were breakneck paths protected by stone walls and powerful
gates, but the third required no reinforcements beyond those
of Nature's making. A precipitous slope of loose stones that
only a barefooted man might scale without disaster termi-
nated in a cliff in which some footholds had been cut.

128

Dom Cristovao and the Ethiopian Queen

Years ago a party of harmless-looking merchants had held a
fair at the base of this mountain. The people from the high
tableland came down to see their wares. They bought and
sold, and took the friendly merchants home with them to set
up business in the mountain villages. As soon as they were
safely on the heights, the merchants threw off their disguise
and showed themselves as Moslem warriors. So Amba Sanayt
was taken by treason, and Granye followed there himself and
made it very strong. Five hundred men were placed on guard
at every pass, and a body of horsemen was kept in readiness
to conduct raids upon the villages below. This garrison be-
came the terror of the countryside, for none knew when the
band of robbers might swoop down to burn and plunder and
to cany men and women off into captivity.

Queen Sabla Vangel trembled when she heard that Dom
Crist6vao proposed to storm the eagle's nest. She sent for the
young man and gravely remonstrated. She assured him that
Amba Sanayt was impregnable. It would be easier to rout
twelve thousand men upon the battlefield than penetrate that
eyrie. Besides, his army was still too small to make such an
attempt. Better avoid Amba Sanayt by a wide detour, and
when they had joined forces with her son, see then what
might be done.

Dom Cristovao listened unmoved. He must take Amba
Sanayt, he replied. It would be a military error to pass on with
such an enemy stronghold behind one's back. But there was
no cause for alarm, he earnestly assured her, for they were
Portuguese! With God's help he hoped to take the mountain
without much peril, and the Queen could set her mind at
rest, because they all would die before they let her come to
harm.

As it seemed to Sabla Vangel that they alt would die in any
case, tfijs thought did not really console her. **Do as you think
best/* she said at last, finding her champion Quite determined.

O XT Ji

But her heart sank as she looked up at the forbidding moun-
tain with a church converted to a mosque perched OB the top*

129

The Land of Prestcr John

Leaving his trembling protege, Dom Cristovao studied the
approaches to Amba Sanayt He allotted one pass to Fran-
cisco Velho and Manuel da Cunha with their respective men
and three pieces of artillery; Joao da Fonseca and Francisco
de Abreu, similarly equipped, would take the second, while
he himself attacked the last and most dangerous of the three
with the rest of the men* He left the Bahr Nagach and all his
following to guard the Queen, and a few Portuguese were
detailed to stay with them.

Sabla Vangel watched everything unhappily. She nearly
gave way to panic when Dom Cristovao feigned a preliminary
assault. He wished to find out how the land lay and on what
lines the defence would be conducted, so while the enemy
flung rocks about, he made his observations and retired. The
Queen, who did not understand such a manoeuvre, concluded
that this was a defeat, and it required all Dom Cristovao's
eloquence to persuade her that everything was well.

"Next day at dawn," writes Castanhoso, *we commended
ourselves to Our Lady and said a general confession before a
crucifix which a priest held in his hands, and we were ab-
solved by the Patriarch." So fortified, they marched up the
mountain, the signal for the attack was given, and all three
passes were assaulted simultaneously.

It was the artillery that won the day. The Portuguese would
have been crushed beneath the boulders and stones hurled
down upon them if they had not thinned the f oemen's ranks
by constant and well-directed fire upon the height. Covered
by their artillery, they charged uphill, Dom Crist6vao leading
the way. They scaled the slippery slope and negotiated the
rock wall. This last was very difficult with missiles falling from
above Twice we were thrown down when nearly at the top 7 *
but in the end they climbed and stayed.

The other two passes were similarly stormed and a fierce
battle was soon raging on the tableland. The Moslems fought
bravely, but the unexpectedness of a triple assault threw them
into confusion: Those who fled from Dom Cristovao fell in

130

Dom Cristovao and the Ethiopian Queen

with Manuel da Cunha's men, or with those of the other cap-
tains, so all were trapped and none escaped our swords.** The
resistance ended in a panic. Some leapt wildly over the cliff
to meet their death upon the rocks below, others took shelter
in the houses of the native mountaineers, who promptly
turned against their vanquished tyrants and slew them with-
out mercy.

Dom Cristovao made his way to the mosque. That edifice
was immediately reconsecrated as "Nossa Senhora da Victo-
ria* and Mass was celebrated there next day. There, too, the
Portuguese buried their dead, who numbered only eight,
though fifty wounded swelled the list of casualties.

Many captive Christian women were found in the village
and released. The Moslem wives and daughters, also numer-
ous, were presented to the Queen. Sabla Vangel might have
increased her retinue of slaves, but she hardened her heart
against her f oewomen and put them all to death.

The Queen was amazed at Dom Cristovao's rapid victory.
Truly, she said, her allies had been sent by God, and nothing
was impossible to them. Dom Cristovao invited her to climb
up and inspect the captured mountain, but she refused. The
slopes were strewn with dead bodies, and though Sabla Van-
gel might calmly order wholesale executions, she could not
bear to look upon a corpse. Dom Crist6vao had to come down
to her.

The conquered territory was given to a faithful Abyssinian
chief, and the Portuguese lingered there until the wounded
had recovered. Another joy was shortly added to the pleasure
of their victory when two compatriots turned up quite unex-
pectedly from Massawa with letters. The Governor, Dom
Estevao, had sent five ships to the Red Sea early in 1542 to
find out how the Abyssinian expedition fared. What letters
meant to men who thought themselves cut off from their own
kind is easy to imagine. "We all were happy to have news
from India," Castanhoso says.

Dom Cxistdvao was able to write to his brother of his re*

181

The Land of Prester John

cent victory. He also sent Francisco Velho with forty men to
ask the captain of the Red Sea squadron for supplies of gun-
powder and other material.

A fortnight was calculated necessary for the answer to re-
turn from Massawa. The messenger was anxiously awaited,
for now at last it seemed that the enemy was near. Prester
John wrote to Dom Cristovao urging haste. Already the King
of Zeila trod the warpath with a formidable host. The Em-
peror and his allies would have to make an effort to join forces
before either met the terrible Granye.

132

The Clash of Arms

Ahmed-ibn-Ibrahim el Ghazi was an old campaigner, not to
be outmanoeuvred easily by two young men. Dom Cristovao
had not been more than two days on the march when his
scouts informed him that the King of Zeila held the way. It
was necessary to choose between immediate battle or retreat
into the mountains until the Emperor arrived. Bad for prestige
was the general verdict on the latter course. Also, the Portu-
guese said to one another, there was the moral effect upon
the natives to consider. At the slightest sign of weakness on
the part of their allies the time-serving aborigines would cut
off food supplies. "It would have been far worse,** in the opin-
ion of Miguel de Castanhoso, "to risk starvation and being
discredited than fight the Moors, for victory rested in the
hands of God,"

Happy in this assurance, Dom Crist6vao decided to give
battle, and so rode back to meet the Queen, who followed the
rearguard. He received her with a special display of pleasure
and rejoicing Tbecause she was a woman and full of fear.*
Gently encouraging the trembling lady, her knights-errant led
her into the middle of their camp. They left the Patriarch
there to strengthen and console her, and a guard of fifty men
as well. Meanwhile the Moslem host drew near and spread
itself over the countryside. Poor Sabla Vangel must have re-

133

The Land of Prester John

pented bitterly of having left the safety of her mountain.

Left-handed Ahmed, with three hundred horsemen follow-
ing, appeared in silhouette on a hilltop against the sky. Two
white flags with a crescent moon and one red flag with a white
crescent fluttered at his side. The Moor reined in his horse
and for a long while **he stood there looking at us," Grany6
gazed upon his foes until his heart grew light, and scorn
welled up within it. The Portuguese had taken up a good
position, but how few of them there were! While he observed,
his army spread and surrounded the hill on which the Chris-
tians camped. He had them in a trap.

Dom Cristovao concluded that he planned a night attack,
so all kept vigil fully armed, with pow-der handy and match-
locks alight, shooting at intervals into the dark. Nothing hap-
pened, however, and when morning dawned, a herald from
the King of Zeila appeared at the camp.

Granye's message was in a lofty tone. It was plain, he said,
that Dom Cristovao must be very young since with so few
men he dared to defy him, but Ahmed could not blame an in-
experienced youth. The fault lay with the natives of the land
and with "that woman who had deceived him." The King of
Zeila added that he was sorry for Dom Cristovao. Let him but
abandon the Queen and he would be forgiven the presump-
tion of facing Grany6 a thing that none had dared to do
for fourteen years. Two courses were open to Dom Crist6vao.
He could either take service with the conquering Moslem, or
else depart in peace. This magnificent offer was made because
the King of Zeila knew it was "that woman who misled him.**
Clearly the man could not forget how he had once desired
"that woman" for his wife!

This message was accompanied by the presentation of a
monk's cowl and a rosary. Grany6 would make monks of them
all, said he, if they did not obey his will.

Dom Crist6vao knew the rules of the game. He received the
envoy with all the courtesy that chivalry demanded. He gave
a cap with a costly medallion, and a purple satin cloak

184

The Clash of Arms

He then escorted him politely from the camp, promising to
send an answer in due course.

A well-dressed young man riding on a mule delivered the
reply, written in Arabic. The Great Lion of the Sea, declared
the letter proudly, had sent his subjects to the rescue of his
brother-in-arms, the very Christian Prester John, who had
been defeated and disinherited by the enemies of the Holy
Catholic Faith. The small army that Granye saw was quite
sufficient to resist such evil men. The justice of the Emperor's
cause alone was ample to defend it. If the Moslems had tri-
umphed hitherto, it was because the Lord had wished to chas-
tise the Abyssinians for their sins. Dom Cristovao now hoped
in God that the moment had arrived when their captivity was
to be turned. Next day would witness what the Portuguese
could do. They certainly would not take service with Moslems,
nor recognize another master than the King of Portugal,
whose vassals were all the kings of India, Arabia, and Persia,
and most of those of Africa, and \vhose vassal Granye would
one day be, with the help of Our Lord!

To the taunt implied by the cowl and rosary, Dom Cristo-
vao retorted in what was felt to be a most becoming manner,
by sending his enemy "a pair of small tweezers for plucking
eyebrows and a large mirror making of him a woman. 9 *

It seems that Granye was annoyed, but he said that they
must be brave men to wish to fight with him.

The King of Zeila had good reason to be confident Fifteen
thousand bowmen followed his flag, and one thousand five
hundred horsemen, besides two hundred Turkish arquebusi-
ers. It was to these few Turks that he owed much of his past
success, for Abyssinian armies fled in terror from powder and
shot. These Turks, Castanhoso affirms, were valiant warriors.
*TThey came closer to us than any of the others, and far ex-
celled them. They even erected little walls quite near to us,
from behind which they did us harm." Manuel da Cunha and
Inofre de Abreu with sixty men were needed to dislodge them.
But the bulk of Granye's army still held back. Ahined*s tac-

135

The Land of Prester John

tics were to draw the enemy down from his strong position,
and for this he knew that it was only necessary to wait. The
Portuguese were quite surrounded and unable to forage for
supplies. Since Granye did not move, Dom Cristovao was
forced to take the offensive without more delay.

At dawn upon April 4 the Christian forces advanced to meet
their foes. A shout of joy that shook the earth rose from the
Moslem host when they saw the little army on the march. "It
seemed to them they had us in their net.**

The battle raged fiercely and long. The inequality of num-
bers was absurd. About three hundred and fifty Portuguese
(forty had not yet returned from Massawa, and eight were
dead) backed by two hundred Abyssinians would inevitably
have been wiped out had it not been for their few pieces of
artillery. "The bombardiers acted as valiant men. They shot
so fast and fearlesslv that the horsemen could not reach us,
for the horses took fright at the fire. None the less the Moors
did us much harm, especially the Turks with arquebuses."
Dom Crist6vao was shot in the leg by one of these, in spite
of which, says the admiring Castanhoso, he continued to per-
form such deeds as "neither ancient nor modern histories
record of any excellent captain."

It is problematical how such a struggle might have ended,
but about midday "Our Lord was pleased to remember His
own, as He always does at times of such great need, accord-
ing to His mercy. Thus when it seemed to us that we were
getting the worst of the battle, it looked to the King of Zeila,
who was watching all, as if his men were losing." Grany was
a brave man. He plunged into the thickest of the fight to rally
his army, and as he did so an arquebus shot went through his
thigh, killing his horse under him. Bearing their wounded
leader off the field, the Moslems gave the signal for retreat.
At this, the Portuguese bore down upon them furiously and
so put them to flight.

Dom Cristdvao had not enough horses to follow far in the
pursuit, so he "contented himself with the victory which Our

136

The Clash of Arms

Lord had given him that day, which was not small.** It was, in
fact, not far short of miraculous, and they attributed it to "the
blessed Apostle Lord St. James," who had not failed to put in
an appearance. Several people had seen the heavenly war-
rior, and "without his help," Castanhoso assures us, "and prin-
cipally that of Our Lord, it would have been impossible to win
this battle."

While Santiago and the Portuguese routed the foe, the
Queen showed that u a woman full of fear" could also be of
use. She improvised a hospital tent and there tended the
wounded. She and her ladies tore their veils and headdresses
into ribbons for making bandages, which they tied up them-
selves. The army surgeon was wounded in his right hand, and
so unable to do his work, but Dom Cristovao, when he arrived,
replaced him. The resourceful young man appears to have
added a knowledge of first aid to his other accomplishments.
Thus he treated everybody's wounds himself, "and when he
had attended to them all, he dressed his own the last. 9 *

About a week was given to the wounded to recover, but
Dom Cristovao did not venture to allow them more. The
enemy was still in sight and Granye had sent for reinforce-
ments, which might arrive any day. It was necessary to fol-
low up the victory by a second battle before the Moslems had
time to pull themselves together.

The Sunday after Easter Dom Crist6vao led a fresh attack.
Granye had not yet recovered from his wounds, but he was
borne upon a litter to the field to encourage his men "Rather
unnecessary/* comments Castanhoso with a touch of irony,
"they were so numerous that the mere sight of how few we
were filled them with courage.**

It certainly had that effect upon Grada Amar, a captain
just arrived at Grany*s summons with 3,500 men. Grada
Amar was bursting with the lust of battle and decidedly above
himself. How was it possible, said he, for such a handful to
resist the Moslem power? They are only a few hens!** he cried,
and charged in fury, urging his men to massacre the lot If all

137

The Land of Prester John

his troops had followed his example, the Christian lines would
have been broken, but fear of the Portuguese artillery made
some hold back. Regardless of hesitation in the rear, die cap-
tain never stayed his headlong course. He and "four or five
valiant Moors threw themselves on our lances and died like
brave men."

The rest of the Moslem cavalry charged after this, but en-
countered a stubborn resistance. The Portuguese stood their
ground and fought desperately, but the weight of the impact
was tremendous and the Moslems had begun to break into
the camp when, on this day again, a lucky accident occurred.
Some gunpowder caught fire with great spectacular effect.
Two Portuguese were lolled in the explosion and eight were
badly burned, but all the same "it caused our victory," The
panic-stricken Moslem horses bolted, carrying their riders far
away. Confusion was thus borne into the enemy's ranks, and
though the Turks still rallied and returned, the first fury of the
onslaught was broken.

The minute that Dom Crist6vao felt them slacken, he
sounded the charge. "We rushed at them with such impetus
that we drove them before us on the field till they were put to
flight." Again shortage of horses curtailed the pursuit, but the
foemen's camp was entered and despoiled. The King of Zeila
Sed far off and all his army followed him.

It was two days after this that Francisco Velho, with his
forty men, returned from Massawa. They were "unbelievably
sad" at having missed the battles, the more so that they had
failed to find the ships at Massawa. The Bahr Nagach, how-
ever, had brought back with him forty horsemen and five
hundred foot soldiers a useful reinforcement. All were re-
ceived with open arms, and Dom Crist6vao, with his army
doubled, resolved to follow the pin-suit.

Fourteen wounded men were unable to march, but the Gov-
ernor of Tigr took charge of these. He had them carried on
litters across the mountains to his home, where "it is truly im-
possible to say what kindness and honour we received from

138

The Clash of Arms

him and from his wife. We could not have been better cared
for and provided for in our own fathers 1 house I emphasize
this point," says Castanhoso, "because I was present all the
time, being myself one of the wounded."

Struggling through mud and rain, meanwhile, the Moslems
fled and the Christians toiled after. The King of Zeila climbed
a mountain and there fortified his camp. Dom Cristovao en-
trenched himself upon another mountain opposite. There, at
the southern borders of Tigre, the hostile armies glowered at
each other while floods poured from the skies. There it seemed
that they would have to stay until the rains had ceased.

Dom Cristovao dispatched a mulatto called Aires Dias to
announce their victories to die Emperor and urge him to make
haste. They had expected he would join them earlier. Await-
ing him, the peasants built straw shacks for their allies on
the mountain and kept them well supplied with food.

Granye was in worse case. It was against the Abyssinians*
principles to back a loser, even if he were of their own faith
and race. A vanquished Moslem, therefore, had no hope of
support. The King of Zeila could get no provisions except at
the point of the sword. He sent a desperate message to the
Pasha of Zebid: Unless the Turks came to his rescue, he was
lost, and all the country he had conquered for the Sultan
would return to Christian hands. Especially he must have ar-
tillery. This cry for help was made the more appealing by a
rich present of gold, silver, and jewels.

It moved the Pasha, who acted at once. He picked a thou-
sand Turkish arquebusiers, and produced ten bombards, com-
plete with gunners. He called a host of Arabs from their tents,
and by way of embellishment he mounted thirty Turkish
horsemen upon iron-shod steeds with golden stirrups. When
the October rains had spent their fury on the mountains, these
soldiers of the Crescent left their deserts for the King of
Zeila's camp.

Meanwmle Dom Cristovao had been conferring with an
Abyssinian Jew. South-west of the River Tacaze stretched

189

The Land of Prester John

the wild peaks and fertile valleys of the Simen Mountains,
which were the Falashas* home. These mysterious Ethiopian
Jews, whose origin is lost in speculation and obscurity, had
found upon these heights a paradise as fair as their forefathers*
promised land. The rich, well-watered soil could produce any
crop; all flocks and herds grew fat and flourished there, and
literally this region flowed with honey, which might be found
dripping from every rock. The man who spoke to Dom Crist6-
vao had been captain of this country at tie time that Prester
John had been defeated and escaped over the Simen heights.
Galawdewos would have to pass that way again to join his
allies, but the mountains had since been taken by the Moors.
They had left few men, however, to defend their conquest. If
Dom Cristovao were agreeable, the Jewish captain could lead
him up by hidden ways, and the stronghold might be taken by
surprise. There was not a hope that Prester John himself could
do this as he passed. Upon this point the Jew was positive. The
Emperor had insufficient men to fight the garrison.

This startled Dom Crist6vao. He had always understood
that Galawdewos had an army. If the Emperor had not even
the force to achieve what was made out to be a very easy con-
quest, the future prospects were not rosy. Dom Cristovao
went to ask the Queen for the whole truth, and Sabla Vangel
confirmed what the Jew had said. Her son had no real army
left! Dom Cristovao hid his consternation and decided that he
must clear the path for Prester John. Besides, tie Jew had told
him there were horses to be captured and there was nothing
that the Portuguese needed so urgently.

He could not raise his camp nor move his army, or the Mos-
lems would occupy his mountain while he was away. Dom
Crist6vao therefore departed secretly by night with Manuel
da Cunha, Joao da Fonseca, and one hundred men.

The whole thing was not quite so simple as the Jew made
out. The River Tacaz, to start with, was in flood, but that did
not deter them. The strongest swimmers swam across while
the others passed ova: with their powder and guns on rafts

140

The Clash of Arms

made of inflated hides and wood. The garrison upon the moun-
tain, represented as negligible, turned out to be over three
thousand men. The raid could easily have ended in disaster,
but the amazing luck that had accompanied Dom Cristovao
so far continued to hold good.

In their first furious charge the two commanders tilted
straight into each other, and the Moslem was overthrown and
slain by Dom Cristovao. It seems that the former had no un-
derstudy and his troops lost nerve. Quite probably they
thought it was a vanguard action and that a large army was
following behind. "They had nobody to shame them or to or-
der them,** says Castanhoso, so when, to add to their confu-
sion, the Jew r s arose with wild cries at their back, they simply
turned and ran away, and the natives of the mountain killed
them as they ran.

Such a simple and spectacular success amazed the Jewish
captain. It was obvious, he said, that God fought for the Chris-
tians, and he demanded then and there to be baptized. His
twelve brothers, we are told, were all converted too, and Dom
Crist6vao, at their request, stood sponsor to the lot.

To the joy of this spiritual fruit of victory was added that
of material profit. Much spoil was looted from the deserted
Moslem camp, besides which they collected a w r hole herd of
fat cattle, three hundred mules, and best of all eighty
splendid horses.

Dom Cristovao left his godson once more captain of the
Simen Mountains and ordered him to send a message to the
Emperor that the way was clear. Thirty Portuguese remained
behind to bring the horses slowly over the rough mountain
paths, while Dom Cristovao with the other seventy men trav-
elled at full speed night and day to get back to their camp.

The evening of his return some cannon-balls, shot from the
darkness, fell behind the Christians* lines*

The King of Zeila's Turks had just arrived.

141

If Dom Cristovao had been an older warrior, observes Diogo
do Couto with the wisdom that comes to most of us after
events, those two brilliant battles with Granye would never
have been fought. Regardless of what the natives might think,
he should have withdrawn to the mountains and waited for
the Emperor there, harrying the Moslems from above, "But,
being a proud young man, and very knightly, though inexpe-
rienced in the art of war, he was guided by the inclination of
his heart and spirit, which was to fear nothing at all, rather
than by the rules of military science such as prudence and cir-
cumspection.** No self-respecting writer of the Renaissance
can make a statement without classical support, so the exam-
ples of Nestor and Fabius Cunctator are duly cited here to
illustrate the case in hand,

Diogo do Couto writes serenely of what had happened half
a century back, but Miguel de Castanhoso, who lived through
it all, attempts no criticism. Perhaps he had not heard about
Fabius the Temporizer.

Whatever that canny Roman might have done in Dom
Crist6vao*s place on past occasions, this time there was no
choice except to fight. Dom Crist6vao found the King of Zeila
camping within gunshot of the Portuguese, quite ready to at-
tack without delay. Instead of resting after their breathless

142

Granye's Revenge

inarch across the mountains, the conquerors of the Falasha
country had to spend the night in watching, fully armed. An
Abyssinian runner was immediately dispatched to meet the
men bringing the horses and to urge them to make haste. All
hoped that the battle might be postponed until they arrived.
Without mentioning the badly needed horses, thirty men more
or less meant a great deal to such a small arniy. Until these
absent comrades joined them, the Portuguese would number
less than 340 men. It is true that there were the Bahr Xagach's
troops some 800 perhaps but the sight of the Turkish artil-
lery had quite shattered their nerve. It did not appear that
one could hope for much support from them.

Grany knew better than to give his enemy a day or two.
Dawn of August 28, 1542 saw his mighty army marching in
battle array, with a vanguard of a thousand Turks, and all the
artillery in front. With a dissonant clash of instruments and
emitting blood-curdling cries, the desert warriors closed
around the Christian camp. As daylight spread across the
hills, fire was opened on either side.

The duel lasted several hours. The Portuguese guns did
great execution, but this time the Turks could give back what
they got. And Turks were valiant men. Regardless of arquebus
shot or cannon-ball, they charged up to the barricades that
fortified the camp, and with Granye s host pressing behind,
it seemed that they must soon break through.

Dom Crist6vao saw that his only hope to hold them back
lay in a succession of furious sorties, led from different sides
by each captain in turn, for, states Castanhoso soberly, "they
could never stand against a Portuguese charge." The history
of Oriental wars for the last forty years had served to demon-
strate that fact.

On this occasion it again proved true. The whole of that
long day each captain in his turn led out his men to hurl them-
selves upon the foe, and every time the M oslems were borne
back. But it was a deadly game for a handful to play against a
multitude. Each sortie cost the lives of several men, and even

14S

The Land of Prcstcr John

from the first all returned wounded. Dom Cristovao, shot by
an arquebus in the leg, continued to encourage all and show
a cheerful face, while seeming to be everywhere at once. "It
is on such days/* says Castanhoso, "that captains show what
they are made of. I know of no words to describe his courage,
nor do they exist." It does not occur to this hero-worshipper
that much' the same might have been said about himself or
his companions. Not one hung back though they all knew it
was a desperate situation. They had no reserves from which
to replace anybody who feD, whereas each time the Moslem
ranks were broken, fresh men stepped forth to fill the gap.
With all their efforts, the Portuguese could hardly keep the
enemy outside their camp. It was like a hunted animal at bay
attempting to hold off the hounds.

Bullets and cannon-balls already fell right into the Queen's
tent. Sabla Vangel, weeping bitterly, still played a worthy
part. She and her ladies worked hard all day long, attending
to the wounded, and while they tied up bandages two women
were hit.

The captains, with fewer men each time, charged farther
and more furiously. Francisco de Abreu, in his turn, was killed.
Inofre de Abreu rushed forward to seize his brother's corpse
and was himself shot down. "Thus both remained upon the
field."

Dom Crist6vao gathered his men and led them out once
more. "Truly if we had had those horses,** Castanhoso thinks,
"the victory would have been ours. . . . Every time we
charged the enemy, we drove them like sheep. But we were
already so exhausted that we could not keep it up." The num-
ber of horses that they had available were only eight. If the
eighty captured in the Simen Mountains had arrived in time, it
would have made a difference.

Dom Crist6vao returned from his last charge with his right
arm shattered and nearly all his men wounded or slain, for
"you cannot make war without shedding blood.* Joao da Fon-
seca and Francisco Velho, who sallied forth successively, each

144

Granycs Revenge

from a different side, each in his turn was killed. Of Dom Cris-
tovao's five captains one only survived.

The long day was declining. A few crippled and wounded
men still gathered at the barricades and tried to keep the
enemy from entering the camp. "Twice we threw them out"
but such a defence could not be sustained. Even the least
wounded were so exhausted that they could hardly lift their
arms, and it would be impossible to lead another charge,

"The Patriarch, when he saw this, mounted a mule and
rode off to the mountain range behind." Caspar Correa puts it
more unkindly, for he says: "The Patriarch ran away." Dom
Joao Bermudez was no coward, but he was intensely practical.
Retreat into the mountains was the sole solution to the situa-
tion, and, having decided that, he did not feel called upon to
wait until Dom Cristovao had made up his mind.

Dom Cristovao was not easy to convince. A veteran warrior
may see no shame in retreat before an ovenvhehning force,
after a heroic resistance, but to Dom Cristovao's youth it
seemed disgraceful to abandon one's position to the enemy.
He wanted to die fighting on the barricades, wielding his
sword in his left hand.

His companions reasoned with him. If he would insist on
staying, then naturally they would stay too, and die with him,
but, after all, what was the use? There was nobody who could
fight any more; it would amount to suicide. Far better to reas-
semble and recover in the mountains and be ready then to
carry on the war and to repair the damage done. To these ar-
guments Sabla Vangel added her tears. She, for one, was go-
ing, and she begged that they would go with her.

Dom Crist6vao, almost by force, was led away upon a mule,
for by this time he could hardly have walked. But he felt that
he was humiliated for all time. The Moslems did not interfere
with their departure. The Turks were already entering the
camp, but their minds were wholly centred upon loot

In the darkness, on the mountain paths, it was not possible
to keep together. Each man stumbled along as best he could.

145

The Land of Prcster John

The battle had left nobody unscathed, so "though some could
get on better than the others, it was very hard for all/*

Miguel de Castanhoso, wounded in several places and with
his left arm smashed by an arquebus discharge, took up his
post beside the Queen. "She had always been my special
charge," he explains simply, "and I would not leave her at a
moment of such peril, though I could not be of much use.**
With about thirty other men, they trailed away into the night.

Dom Cristovao would make no haste to reach the moun-
tains. He did not much care what became of him. So many of
his brave comrades were dead, but he had not had the luck
to die with them! And he had lost his flag the flag that his
brother had so earnestly committed to his care. He had been
told to die in its defence, and it was gone, and he was still
alive. His honour was tarnished for ever, and his father's glo-
rious name dragged in the dust. He never could return to
Portugal again. In vain his friends argued with him. He was
in no mood to appreciate their arguments. It is difficult to
keep a right sense of proportion when, after a day of desperate
effort without food or rest, preceded by a sleepless night after
a strenuous march, one has a bullet in the leg and a shattered
right arm hanging useless at one's side. Dom Cristovao could
not be made to see that he was not disgraced.

All night long Dom Cristovao and his thirteen companions
wandered blindly on the mountain-side. Towards morning
they reached a deep-wooded gorge, at the bottom of which
there flowed a little water. As all were more or less worn out,
they decided to rest here awhile and to bind up one another's
wounds. They had no healing ointments to apply and so they
killed the mule on which Dom Crist6vao rode, and used the
creature's fat.

That night the Moslems revelled in the abandoned Chris-
tian camp. The plunder had proved rather disappointing.
There were indeed two chests of Dom Cristdvao's clothes, but
the King of Zeila kept these for himself. His subordinates, ex-
ploring the Queen's tent, discovered several barrels of gun-

146

Grange's Revenge

powder there, and forty entirely helpless wounded men. The
victorious Moslems were pleased with this last find. After a
battle Turks and Arabs liked to have a little relaxation, and
captives usually provided that. It was great fun to torture
wounded men, and all the warriors joinedf the game with zest.

One of their victims, awaiting his turn, lay watching with a
ghastly smile. It had just occurred to him that he might add
his contribution to the sport. He could see a lighted fusee on
the ground. Laboriously he dragged himself alonn until he
reached it. One more effort, and the fire was flung straight into
the gunpowder. A deafening noise then rent the night as, in
the twinkling of an eye, captors and captives all were swal-
lowed up in flame.

While their companions plundered and tormented and
went up in smoke, twelve Turks and twenty Arabs beat the
countryside in search of Dom Cristovao. They had almost
given up the hunt when, in the uncertain light of dawn, an
old black woman crept out of the bush and crossed their path.
The Moslems made for her at once, thinking that she might
give them information, but like a frightened animal she scut-
tled off and disappeared into the scrub. The Turks tracked the
elusive creature in and out, from bush to bush, until she came
into the open and began to run. She plunged into the ravine
where Dom Crist6vao and his friends were resting, and her
pursuers followed in full cry. That old woman," says Castan-
hoso with conviction, "was the Devil!*

The Prophet had sent his messenger, declared the M oslems,
especially to be their guide, for the black phajotom vanished
from their sight within the valley but there was Dom Crist6-
vao! They seized on him with shouts of joy and captured his
companions, all but one, who, being only lightly wounded,
managed to escape. Much elated, the Turks and Arabs turned
back to the camp, enlivening the way by plucking Dom Cris-
t6vao*s beard and spitting in his eyes.

Grany, in occupation of his f oeman's tent, was happily col-
lecting heads of Portuguese. He paid well for each one that

147

The Land of Prcster John

was brought him, and more than eighty were already gathered
in. These he proudly exhibited to his prisoner. "With such
heads you meant to take my kingdom from me," he sneered.
"For your boldness I will do you great honour!"

The King of Zeila then proceeded to enjoy himself. He had
Dom Cristovao stripped naked, with his hands tied behind
from a rope round his neck. The captive first was cruelly
flogged, then Grany4 ordered his black slaves to take off their
sandals and beat Dom Cristovao's face with them. The next
game was malang wax candles out of his beard and setting
them alight. At last, with a sinister smile, Granye produced
the tweezers which Dom Cristovao had sent him the year be-
fore. "We don't use these," he observed pleasantly, "but I kept
them for you." The young man's eyebrows and eyelashes then
were plucked out hair by hair, which process his tormentors
varied by tweaking out small bits of flesh. Dom Crist6vao, his
face streaming with blood, made no protest. However painful
this might be, he preferred it to the mental agony he had en-
dured before. Now he knew that he would not return to Portu-
gal dishonoured. To be tortured to death by the Moors would
mean a martyr's crown, so, after all, his family was not dis-
graced. *He thanked God/* we are told, "for bringing him to

When Granye had made merry to his hearth content, he
considered that his captains ought to have their turn. The
patient victim was led from tent to tent, tormented and abused
in every one. To jerk the cord which bound his hands to his
neck behind, so making him fall down, was the delight of
every humorous Turk, They would beat him then until he
rose. This show had to be repeated many times before it
palled

Tlifly did get tired of him at last, and so restored him to
Graay6, who ordered that he should be dressed in filthy rags.

Tf you wffl fight for me and send for your comrades to join
you, you shall be pardoned and granted your life, 9 * the King
of Zeiksaid, "and I will treat you weH*

148

Granye's Revenge

answered his captive proudly, "if you knew the
Portuguese you would not speak vain words. You can do what
you like with me, for I am in your power, but know for certain
that if you gave me half your kingdom I would not bring a
single Portuguese to you/ The Portuguese will not live with
Moors, who are vile and enemies to the holy faith of Christ,
my Lord."

'Granye, beside himself, whipped out his sword for sole reply
and smote off Dom Cristovao's head.

They buried him under a heap of stones, with a dead dog
by his side.

Why had Granye slain the captain of the Portuguese? the
Turks demanded wrathfully. They had meant to take him liv-
ing as a gift for the Grand Turk. There was nothing that the
Sultan would have prized so much. They departed in high
dudgeon for Arabia, bearing Dom Cristovao's head with them,
and all the prisoners but one, who had escaped. It was this
man who told the tale of Dom Crist6vao's fate. His twelve
companions, carried off to nameless prisons in the desert, have
never been heard of from that day to this.

Just over fourteen months had passed since Dom Cristovao
had led his men inland from Massawa. In that time he had re-
conquered a hundred leagues of territory for Prester John. He
had come as a deliverer to a people without hope, and shown
them that their enemy was not invincible. Twice the King of
Zeila's mighty host had fled before his face, and he had
wrested from the Moslems those strongholds that barred the
Emperor's path. When Galawdewos returned to the fight, he
no longer had to face the morale of an undefeated foe.

Dom Crist6vao had died, and half of his comrades were
dead, but they had cleared the way.

Ethiopia Delivered

Sabla Vangel with her women rode ahead, weeping, upon her
mule. Her weary escort struggled on behind, and at the tail
of the whole sad procession followed ten or twelve wounded
men who could only just walk. Two friends named Fernam
Cardoso and Lopo de AIman9a, having had the good luck to
be only lightly hurt, had constituted themselves guardians of
these crippled ones and were helping them along.

Progress was necessarily slow, and already the fierce morn-
ing sun shone high over the hills when, looking round, they
saw they were pursued by a band of Moslems led by two
Arabs on horseback.

Fernam Cardoso and Lopo de Almanga were determined
that their charges must be saved at any cost. "Go ahead," they
told them, "and hide if possible. We shall stay and defend
you till we die,"

Grasping their shields and lances, the two brave men turned
back to meet the Moors.

The riders curveted up to the spot, and were perhaps some-
what surprised to find only two men when from afar it had
appeared to be a party on the move. They must have suspected
an ambush, for they reined in their horses at a little distance
and from thence they summoned the companions to sur-
render.

150

Ethiopia Delivered

Fernam Cardoso and Lopo de Almanga took rapid stock
of the situation. The horsemen were only two, but they had a
detachment of infantry fast coming on behind. "'Even before
arriving within range of lance or sword, the Moors could de-
stroy them by stones and arrows." The wounded comrades,
happily, were out of sight and possibly had not been seen at
all. It seemed that the best way to protect them would be to
surrender, for then the Moslems would most likely turn back
with their prisoners and, "even if the Moors put them to tor-
ture, they would not confess that there were other Portuguese
ahead."

Lopo de Almanga knew a little Arabic. He shouted to the
horsemen to approach and take their arms.

Then a strange thing happened. Castanhoso is quite con-
vinced that "Our Lady inspired them."

They must have recollected suddenly the fate of other pris-
oners on past occasions, for it appears that both exclaimed in
the same breath: "Santa Maria! With our own weapons they
will loll us!" Saying these words, they charged the men on
horseback who were near, and overthrew them both one
dead, the other wounded in the arm. **When their riders fell,
the horses stood stock still, and the foot soldiers, though nu-
merous, began to run away, which clearly seemed to be a
miracle."

Fernam Cardoso and Lopo de Almanga did not remain to
wonder at it. Each leaped into an empty saddle and, seeing
the enemy turn tail, they also turned about and galloped after
their companions, who had despaired of seeing them again.
Hoisting the weakest ones onto their horses* backs, our pala-
dins related their exploit, which, if not exactly in accordance
with the rules of chivalrous warfare, was, in the circum-
stances, not unpardonable.

Their tale was heard with joy and wonder, and aH came to
the same conclusion that "Our Lady, seeing their good inten-
tion, had come to their aid. . . ."

"Thus these two men saved their companions and all those

151

The Land of Prcster John

who went ahead, for if the Moors had followed after, all would
have been killed, none having weapons to defend themselves."

The broken remains of Dom Cristovao's army gathered to-
gether on the mountain-side. The thirty men with the horses
from the Falasha country met them there too late and
heard about the tragedy that their arrival possibly might have
averted. Meanwhile the Queen sent scouts to comb the ranges
and find out news of Dom Crist6vao. To have no idea of his
fate "is what we minded most, the more so that we knew
he was severely wounded."

This suspense was not prolonged. The man who had es-
caped from the Turks in the valley soon appeared, and was
followed shortly by the fugitive who had witnessed Dom
Crist6vao's death. "At w r hich news we felt all that may be
imagined."

Sabla Vangel mourned for her young champion as if for
a son, but she did not forget the survivors who had fought so
well. "She sent for all of us and made a speech, consoling us
for our great loss and our contrary fortune, and this in very
discreet and virtuous words."

At wearing a brave face in adversity her listeners were not
to be outdone. "We asked the Patriarch to answer her for us
and to encourage her. . . . She was pleased, and said that
the resolution of the Portuguese was very great."

It was about a hundred of them who now rallied around the
Queen. Another fifty were reported to have wandered with
Manuel da Cmiha into the mountains of the Bahr Nagach. Of
the 400 Portuguese who had left Massawa in 1541, no more
survived.

Sabla Vangel, with her allies, decided to await the Emperor
in the Simen Mountains. There they realized the value of the
last conquest that Dom Cristovao had achieved before he
died. These mountains over which the Emperor had to pass
were natural fortresses enclosing fertile valleys where an army
could recover and refit, supplied by the friendly Falashas with
all that they might need. Prester'john himself arrived there

152

Ethiopia Delivered

ten days later, but he brought "so few men with him that if
Dom Cristovao had not conquered these mountains it would
have been impossible for us to join him, nor would there have
been any means of restoring the realm.**

Galawdewos was inconsolable upon hearing of Dom Cristo-
vao's death. He could not have shown more grief, we are told,
for his own son and heir, but as the Emperor was six years
younger than Dom Cristovao, the simile might have been
more aptly chosen.

Galawdewos was a grateful soul and felt that he could not
do enough for the allies who had fought so heroically for him.
They must never count themselves as strangers in his land,
he said. Let them consider everything as theirs, and the king-
dom as belonging to the King of Portugal, his brother. He
distributed mules to everyone and clothed them all in silk.

Though the Portuguese were now so few in number, their
presence at the Emperor's side had an astonishing effect upon
native morale. Galawdewos by himself had been almost aban-
doned. Now that he had joined forces with a hundred Portu-
guese, the mercurial aborigines came flocking to his flag. The
Portuguese watched them arrive with increasing excitement,
and "when we saw all those men assembled, we went to
Prester John and begged him to help us to avenge the death
of Dom Crist6vao."

But Prester John still had a wholesome fear of his old
enemy. He thought that the army was not yet strong enough
to beard Grany. He was, however, persuaded to try his for-
tune, provided that the Portuguese who had gone with the
Bahr Nagach could be summoned in time. "Fifty Portuguese
in that counfcy,** remarks Castanhoso complacently, "are a
better reinforcement than a thousand natives. 3 *

A messenger was therefore sent to search for Manuel da
Cunha's party, and at the same time to fetch a good supply of
extra weapons left by Dom Crist6vao in Sabla VangeFs citadel
near Debaroa. While waiting, everyone turned to and made
gunpowder. Sulphur and saltpetre abounded in the Simeu

153

The Land of Prcstcr John

Mountains, and happily the specialist who understood the
manufacture of explosives had survived,

Prester John was in the end obliged to take the field without
Manuel da Cunha and his fif ty men. They were found to be no
longer with the Bahr Xagach. Believing all their comrades to
be dead, they had gone down to Massawa, there to await the
fleet. It was supposed that they had sailed for India.

The Emperor raised his camp on February 6. He took with
him 8,000 bowmen and 500 horse. In front of the whole army
marched the 100 Portuguese. They refused to have a captain
chosen from among their number. After the one that they had
lost, they said, they could appoint no other. The Emperor
could command them if he liked, and the flag of Our Lady of
Mercy would be borne ahead to lead them on. Thus they de-
parted full of enthusiasm, nor would the lame and crippled
stay behind. All swore to be avenged upon the enemy or die
in the attempt. The Emperor, on his side, offered his sister's
hand in marriage to any Abyssinian who would bring him
Grany^'s head, or if it were a Portuguese, a rich reward.

All this time Grany6, quite happy and carefree, was with
his wives and children on the east shores of Lake Tana. He
knew that he had wiped the floor with Galawdewos the last
time that they met, so he looked for no further trouble from
that quarter. The Portuguese he was quite sure he had annihi-
lated. Who, then, was left to challenge his supremacy?

At harmony with life, therefore, Ahmed-ibn-Ibrahim el
Ghazi enjoyed the pleasures of his harem and his home until
one day, over the mountain crest, an army hove in sight and
camped before him. It was no other than the Emperor, he was
informed the Emperor and the Portuguese! As Ahmed had
supposed there were no Portuguese in Abyssinia by this time,
to see them reappear was something of a shock. He and his
men prepared themselves for battle, "for they could see that
we were bent upon revenge.**

Prester John still hankered after those fifty men from Mas-
sawa. The latest news was that they had not sailed, and even

154

Ethiopia Delivered

now were travelling inland to join him. Galawdewos resolved
to postpone action until they arrived. Meanwhile the armies
gazed at each other and skirmished every day. The result was
interesting to amateurs of feats of arms, but weakening to the
forces of both sides.

A celebrated Arab captain who commanded two hundred
horse had daily passages with sixty mounted Portuguese. In
the end he was killed at the game, "which was great loss for
them."

The Abyssinian cavalry was also in high fettle and anxious
to show off to their allies. Especially their captain, Azmache
Cafilom, "did marvels with his horsemen."

Unhappily the gallant Azmache Cafilom had to do with an
unsporting enemy. Granye's Turks hoisted the white flag one
day and said they had a message for the Abyssinian com-
mander. As he rode to the trystiiig-place, Azmache Cafilom
saw only two Moslems advancing to meet him. Like a gentle-
man he bade his followers hang back and went forward him-
self with only two. While the fictitious messengers held him
in conversation, some hidden arquebusiers shot him down.
The Turks had horses ready and galloped away before the
startled Abyssinians could pick up their dead commander.
There were wails and lamentations in the Emperor's camp, for
Azmache Cafilom was married to Galawdewos's own cousin.

Abyssinian troops appear to have been very temperamen-
tal. They could show great bravery on the battlefield when all
was going well, but the courage that will die for a lost cause
was seldom theirs. They were so dismayed on this occasion
by their captain's death that many resolved to slip away, "for
\ictory seemed impossible to them."

This jerked the Emperor into action. He sent for the Portu-
guese and asked them to prepare for battle the next day. It
was no good waiting any longer for Manuel da Cunha. Galaw-
dewos knew that if the fight were long deferred his army
would dissolve and fade away.

The Portuguese were ready. Dawn found them praying be-

155

The Land of Prcstcr John

fore the flag of the Santa Misericordia, "asking God to have
mercy on us, and to grant us vengeance and victory over our
foes." A general confession was said and absolution pro-
nounced by a priest, and so they placed themselves in the
front line of the vanguard. Two hundred and fifty Abyssinian
horsemen went with them, and 3,500 foot soldiers followed.
According to Castanhoso, the Ethiopian army numbered all
together 8,500 men.

"The soldiers of Galawdew r os were few, like those of
Gideon," says the more poetic Ethiopian chronicle. As for the
King of Zeda's army, "They were like multitudes of locusts,
and even exceeded them, for their number was thousands of
thousands, and millions of millions, all ready for the fight, as
strong as lions and swift as eagles. . . * The Moslems were
from twelve to fourteen thousand men, the Portuguese records
inform us with the colder realism of the European,

In the King of Zeila's vanguard marched 6,000 infantry,
600 horse, and the famous 200 Turkish arquebusiers. The
Pasha of Zebid was obliged by treaty to keep his corps up to
that strength, but the other Turks who had fought in the pre-
vious battle, as we have seen, were angry with Granye for
killing Dom Cristovao, and so had left him and did not return.

The sight of those 200 Turks made the Portuguese see red.
Led by their sixty horsemen, they hurled themselves like tigers
upon these arquebusiers and made great devastation in their
ranks. The Abyssinians, easily inflamed if easily cast down,
followed with enthusiasm, and the Moslem vanguard was

fetting the worst of it when Grany6 rode up accompanied
y his small son, "How many years have I persecuted them?"
he cried to those around, "And shall they stand before my
face today?"

The tough old warrior exposed his person recklessly and
soon was recognized. Every Portuguese arquebusier took aim
at once, and Grany fell across his saddle-bow, shot through
die chest. Mortally wounded, he was borne away upon his

156

|j)o Prcftc 3oam oae indiag.

JDcrdadera informa^am oae terras tx> prcftc

raodfcoSltiarc} topdll 6tl e? nolTo

FRONTISPIECE OF THE FIRST EDITION OF FATHER
FRANCISCO ALVARES'S BOOK ON ETHIOPU

Ethiopia Delivered

panic-stricken horse while a young Ethiopian galloped wildly
after.

The Moslems, seeing their leader fall, lost nerve and fled
except the Turks, whose captain especially "fought like a
valiant knight" With his sleeves rolled up and brandishing a
great axe in hand, he held all enemies at bay, hewing a wide
space all around him. Five Abyssinian horsemen vainly set on
him at once. They could neither kill him nor make him sur-
render. He snatched the lance from one of them and slashed
through the legs of another's horse "so that they did not dare
approach him/*

A Portuguese, Joao Fernandez, charged him with a lance.
The Turk, though wounded by the thrust, caught the lance in
his hand and held it in a grip of iron, while with his axe he
cut the sinews of Joao Fernandez's leg. Joao Fernandez drefw
his sword and killed the Turk, but remained lame for life.

Meanwhile the King of Zeila's army fled, hody pursued
"principally by the Portuguese, who could not be sated in
avenging Dom Cristovao's death." It was the Turks who paid
the heaviest toll. Of the 200 who had marched to the battle,
Castanhoso tells us grimly that only forty survived.

Granye's wife, with 300 horsemen, fled from his camp, bear-
ing away the treasure that her husband had once taken from
the Emperor. Nobody noticed her departure, for all were bent
on putting Moslems to the sword. Only the women and chil-
dren were spared, and these were carried off into captivity.
Many Christian women were discovered among their num-
ber, "which caused the greatest joy. 79 Some Ethiopians found
their long-lost sisters, some their daughters or their wives, and
"such was their delight that they came to loss our feet and
gave us all the credit of the victory, saying that it was thanks
to us that they had regained their freedom."

Amid all these rejoicings a youth on horseback galloped up.
A gory head was swinging by its hair held fast between the
rider's teeth. This was the young man who had followed after

The Land of Prestcr John

Granye. He had overtaken him and dealt the final blow, and
now he brought the head and claimed the Emperor's sister
for his bride.

The Emperor examined the trophy with a searching eye,
"There is only one ear!" said he suspiciously. ""Where is the
other ear?" At this a Portuguese stepped forward and pro-
duced the missing organ from his pocket.

They tried it on the head, and lo! they found that it fitted
the place. "The King," says the Ethiopian chronicle, "then
ordered that King man of Ethiopia to hand over Granye's
adornments to the Frank."

Castanhoso makes no mention of this ghoulish little inci-
dent of the severed ear. He says that Galawdewos would not
recognize the claim of the youth who had brought him
Granye's head. The King of Zeila, he declared, already was
wounded to death when the Ethiopian had launched in pur-
suit. He could not pretend that he had slain him, and the
mere removal of the Moslem captain's head did not deserve
the hand of an Imperial princess! The true author of Granye's
death could only be a Portuguese, for Abyssinians did not
handle arquebuses, but as nobody could tell for certain who
had aimed the fatal shot, no one could have the prize.

Grany6*s head, impaled upon a lance, was carried to rejoice
the heart of Queen Sabla Vangel. Thence it was borne in
triumph all around the realm that people might believe their
enemy was dead. It was a happy day for Abyssinia.

The war ended with Granye's death, for the heterogeneous
host that followed him had no cohesion. In the words of the
Ethiopian chronicle, the moment that their leader was no
more, "his troops dispersed like smoke and like the cinders
of an oven.**

The Emperor's army did exactly the reverse. In a few weeks
its number had increased to 26,000 men. All the deserters
who had followed Grany6 in his victorious days now coolly
returned to their old allegiance, quite ready with "the poor
excuses of* a disloyal people," says Castanhoso scornfully.

158

Ethiopia Delivered

Galawdewos cut off a few heads, but pardoned most of the
traitors. He could not very well do otherwise, "for if he had
put all to death, he would have had no men left*

The Bahr Nagach's father blandly presented himself. This
simple soul had adhered to the King of Zeila tk because it
seemed to him that the realm would never be restored/' He
had won the favour of Granye, \vho appointed him as pre-
ceptor to his son. Now that, contrary to all expectations, the
Abyssinian Empire was restored, the elderly opportunist was
not dismayed. He calmly sent to beg the Emperor's pardon
and offeree! to hand over his young charge.

Galawdewos hesitated, but the Bahr Nagach pleaded for
his old scalawag of a parent. In recognition of the son's loyal
services the father was eventually forgiven and he cheerfully
delivered Granye's son into captivity.

There was one renegade captain who did not fare so well.
The Portuguese discovered that he was one of those who had
captured Dom Cristovao, and they protested loudly against
his pardon. Galawdewos was distressed. Had he known of
this, he said, he would not have granted the man his life, Hav-
ing once done so, however, he could not break his word
but, he added significantly, he would like to see that man torn
to pieces by a lion!

The Portuguese did not require a broader hint Without
discussing the matter further, they sought the tent of the
renegade and promptly stabbed him. His death, we are in-
formed, "did not grieve Prester John.**

Easter was passed beside Lake Tana, where Castanhoso for
the first time in his life saw hippopotamuses. This beast, in
retrospect, loomed large in his imagination. They are the
size of horses," he writes, "and the shape and colour of ele-
phants. They have excessively large heads and a very wide
mouth with many teeth above and below like those of ser-
pents. On the lower jaw they have two great pointed teeth.
When this animal opens its mouth, it is astonishing, for truly
an average-sized man standing upon the lower jaw would not

159

The Land of Prester John

reach the upper with his head, and two men together could go
into its mouth/'

By this far inland late Europeans and Africans joined hap-
pily together for the Easter celebrations. A very effective pro-
cession was organized in which the Portuguese walked hilly
armed, firing off their arquebuses and the captured Turkish
artillery, as well as other gunpowder devices made for the
occasion. The Emperor was delighted with the lovely noise.

On the anniversary of Dom Crist6vao's death, a great me-
morial service was held for him and all the Portuguese who
had laid down their lives for Abyssinia. Masses were said
with many candles, and six thousand poor were fed and
clothed that day.

During the whole of 1543 the Portuguese travelled about
with the Emperor. They taught him the European style of
riding, and he adopted many European customs, we are told.

As they followed Prester John across his realm from end to
end, the Portuguese saw and heard a number of strange
things. What appears to have struck Castanhoso most were
the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. Each one was cut out
of a single rock "with two very lofty naves, pillars, and domes,
all carved from the same stone without a join, and the high
altar and other altars were also cut out of the rock. . . . Each
church is about the size of Sao Francisco of Evora in Portugal
. . . and I measured the smallest . . . and found it to be
fifty paces wide.**

Long ago so local tradition ran a saintly white King
came from foreign lands and caused these sanctuaries to be
hewn out of stone. Every day an ell of rock was broken by
the workmen's pickaxes, and every morning it was found that
in the night the Lord had done three more. Thus the churches
took shape and grew out of the mountain-side, and when the
last one was completed, then the strange King died a holy
death. They showed us where he lay buried, and all took
earth out of the sepulchre to keep as relics.** The visitors were
also shown some torn and ancient parchments covered with

10)

Ethiopia Delivered

an unknown script almost effaced by age. They thought that
we could read them," Castanhoso says.

The monks Irving there, moreover,' told the tale of how the
King of Zeila would have turned these churches into mosques,
but when two Moors on horseback attempted to enter one,
their horses fell down dead.

Leaving these holy heights nimbed with an aureole of
miracle and legend, 'the Emperor descended to the plains
of Fatagar. He had re-established his authority in all the
country that Granye had conquered, and the tour ended here,
among the Moslem tribes that formerly were subject to the
Abyssinian crown. Gakwdewos accepted their submission to
his rule again and took the customary tribute.

After that, says Castanhoso, there was nothing more to do.
He, for one, began to think about getting away. His wounded
arm had never ceased giving trouble. It would not heal, and
no surgeon was available in Abyssinia* He begged for leave to
go to Massawa and there await the fleet.

Prester John was much perturbed. Not only was he loath to
part with any of the Portuguese who had helped him so loy-
ally, but as the King of Zefla had deprived him of his treasure,
he was in no position to bestow rewards. "He was king of
nothing except much land and many provisions. . . . He
often told me not to leave until he could reward me, because
it was slighting him to go before, and he was greatly grieved
at my departure.**

Castanhoso insisted. He said that he probably would die of
his old wound if something was not done about it. He could
not obtain treatment in Abyssinia, so he must go to India.

In the circumstances Galawdewos could not decently de-
tain him any more. Reluctantly he gave him leave to go, and
fifty other Portuguese decided to depart at the same time.

'Then the Emperor sent for all the gold and silver in the
churches of the fend, and added to it all the jewels and brace-
lets of his womenfolk. He apologized for having nothing more
to give. He assured the Portuguese that he would make their <

161

The Land of Prcster John

fortunes if they would only wait. There was a province on the
confines of his realm to which Negroes came from far away
in caravans with sacks of gold which they bartered for linen
cloths. He suggested that the Portuguese should go with him
and conquer these gold-mines.

But they refused the concrete gold and silver that he
pressed upon them, nor were they tempted by the distant El
Dorado depicted by him* They had not come into this land in
search of any gain, they said, only to serve God and their
King.

And so they left, empty-handed as they had arrived, with
the flag of Holy Mercy still leading the w r ay.

At Massawa, just one small foist appeared, commanded by
a Diogo do Reinoso. He had been sent to find out news of the
Abyssinian expedition, but in India it was believed that all
were dead. The little ship was full of soldiers and could not
take on fifty more men. As few could go, it was decided that
they all should stay except Miguel de Castanhoso, whose need
was the most urgent. He promised to entreat the Governor
to send a ship for them, and if the Governor failed to do so,
he would apply to the King.

"Next day, at dawn, on Sunday, February 16, 1544, 1 em-
barked, leaving my companions greatly desirous of doing
likewise. After saying good-bye very sadly, they remained
praying before a crucifix they bore upon the flag, after which,
with many tears, they mounted their mules and rode away
inland. . .

"And we set sail for India, where by Our Lord God's
will we arrived safely on April 19.

"May it please Our Lord to remember me and bring them
back in peace to Portugal."

But most of them died in exile.

162

PART III
TEE PARTING OF THE WAYS

Heresy and Schism

|^s>

SSSc/S*

I entreat you for the sake of Our Lord Jesus Christ's death
and Passion, and by the great mercy of Our Lady, His blessed
mother, that you will not let me die in your realm." So wrote
the unhappy Saga Zaab to Dom Joao III, on July 12, 1536.
He expected to die soon, he added mournfully, for he was "ill
and very sad."

At the same time Padre Francisco Alvares was begging not
to be allowed to die at Rome, But the powers upon the throne
and at the Vatican continued to keep both envoys hanging
on. Francisco Alvares, it seems, actually died in Italy, but
Saga Zaab must have set sail in 1539 with Dom Joao Ber-
mudez.

Poor Saga Zaab had been a solitary figure at the court of
Portugal. Neglected by the King, badgered by theologians
who were anxious to test his orthodoxy, and desperately
homesick, he remained in Europe for twelve years that must
have seemed like an eternity to him. But at least he made one
friendship which does him great credit that of the humanist
Damiao de Gois. The brilliant scholar, a pupil of Erasmus,
steeped in the culture of the classics, and newly returned
from Europe's chief centres of learning, appears to have
formed a genuine esteem and attachment for tne black monk
educated in the isolated mountains of Ethiopia.

165

The Land of Prester John

Damiao de Gois was one of those wide-open, inquiring in-
tellects which the Renaissance produced before the Inquisi-
tion had had time to clip their wings. Regardless of the host
of troubles that he was laying up for his old age, his youth
was wholly spent in tracking knowledge down whatever
paths the quest might lead. The same spirit of universalism
which had already brought him into friendly intercourse with
Luther and Melancthon as his brother intellectuals now in-
duced him to investigate the tenets of the Abyssinian Church
with great curiosity.

Damiao de Gois's interest in the land of Prester John was
of long standing. It must have dated from the year 1514 when,
as a twelve-year-old page at Dom Manuel's court, he had
witnessed Matthew's arrival from India. The boy cannot fail
to have heard how the envoy's religion had been examined
by the doctors of the Church before the King. When, seven-
teen years later, he found at the house of a Portuguese at
Antwerp a copy of the Armenian's replies, Damiao de Gois
had seized upon the document with great interest. He trans-
lated it into Latin then and there and published it in 1532.
On meeting Saga Zaab in Lisbon shortly after, he showed him
this work and asked for further information.

Saga Zaab studied his predecessor's declarations critically.
It was clear, he said, that Matthew was no theologian. The
Church's doctrines were imperfectly defined by him. This
was, however, what might be expected of a layman and a
foreigner. The better instructed Saga Zaab would write a
correct exposition for his friend.

Damiao de Gois left for Italy before the work was finished,
but the Abyssinian did not forget his promise. He wrote out
a detailed profession of his faith and sent it on to Padua.

Damiao de Gois was delighted with the treatise, nor did its
heterodoxy shock him in the least. That broad-minded tol-
erance which had enabled him* a Roman Catholic, to feel no
horror in the company of German heresiarchs permitted him
to read, without turning a hair, of circumcision practised in

166

Heresy and Schism

the Abyssinian Church, the sanctifying of Saturday, and
other rites which smacked of Judaism. He found it all ex-
tremely interesting; he translated it into Latin under the title
of Fides, religio, moresque sEthiopum, and he gaily pub-
lished the treatise.

It appeared in 1540 at Louvain the first authoritative ex-
position of the teaching of the Abyssinian Church. It is true
that Saga Zaab had set them forth in slightly attenuated form.
Deliberately, or unconsciously, he had skated over definitions
of the Trinity, and no Eutychian doctrines are presented in
his work. It has been suggested that Saga Zaab, isolated as he
was, would have been careful to avoid any dangerous stone
of dissension, but what he said was quite enough to scan-
dalize the Grand Inquisitor. Many rites and ceremonies dis-
countenanced by the Latin Church, but practised from time
immemorial in Abyssinia, were not only described but de-
fended by him.

The Cardinal Infante Dom Henrique, Grand Inquisitor of
Portugal, would never have agreed with Padre Francisco Al-
vares that "God was willing to be served in different ways."
He shook his head in disapproval over the Fides, religio*
moresque dEthicpum and placed a ban upon the work. He
wrote to Damiao de Gois to say that he had done so, much to
that learned man's surprise. What harm was there in publish-
ing the treatise? asked the puzzled intellectual. He could not
see how anyone would be the worse for being told about
religious customs in Ethiopia.

The Cardinal thought that such an attitude was risky. He
wrote back kindly but very firmly. He had not ceased, said
he, to regard Damiao de Gois "as a good man and a good
Christian/* but in view of the fact that the Holy Inquisition
was newly established in Portugal, one could not be too care-
ful. It was necessary to guard against any laxity in these bad
times, with so much heresy abroad. Thus Fides, religto,
moresque was suppressed, after having been subjected to the
lynxlike scrutiny of the greatest theologians in the land.

167

The Land of Prcster John

The curious part is that for over twenty years no one had
troubled much about the difference between the Latin and
the Abyssinian Churches, It is doubtful whether laymen left
to themselves would even have been seriously disturbed by
it. Pero da Covilham, the men of Dom Rodrigo de Lima's
embassy, Dom Cristovao da Gama and his companions, all
seem to have accepted the Ethiopians as their brothers in the
faith. However different externals might appear, the funda-
mental truths appeared the same. Their Holy Scriptures were
identical, as was their belief in the fall of man and subsequent
redemption by Our Lord. The two Churches kept many of
the same feasts, professed the same devotion to the Virgin,
reverenced the same saints; and both worshipped Three Per-
sons in One God. As for their different definition of the Sec-
ond Person of the Trinity, it does not seem that anybody
noticed it. The average layman does not probe very deeply
into the mysteries expounded in the Athanasian Creed, and
it is improbable that it would have occurred to Dom Cris-
t6vao*s soldiers or to their Ethiopian colleagues to discuss
together the dual nature of Our Lord. Each saw the other
bow before Him as the world's Redeemer, and they were
quite satisfied with that. Castanhoso, Castanheda, and Gas-
par Correa all describe curious religious rites and ceremonies
practised by Ethiopians, but none of these writers ever call
them heretics*

Neither does Father Francisco Alvares, a priest, apply that
term. He was the best of friends with the Abuna and did not
hesitate to worship in the Abyssinian Church. Though cer-
tainly he disapproved of some things that he saw, he seldom
seems to have been really shocked. He accepts the Abyssini-
ans as true members of the Christian Church, and if their
way of celebrating Mass seems strange to him, he consoles
himself with the reflection that as all was done to the glory
of God, all must be well .

But times had changed since those far-off days when the
men of Diego Lopes de Sequeira's fleet and the black monks

168

Heresy and Schism

of Bizan had wept in one another's arms at Massawa, "joined
in ties of spiritual brotherhood by the sign of the cross, \vhich
filled them with faith and love and charity." The Europe to
which Francisco Alvares returned was animated by a very
different spirit. Faith flourished certainly, but love and char-
ity were not in evidence. Christendom had become a seething
cauldron of religious polemics. Inkpots were being emptied
in controversy, while each rival theologian demolished the
others* doctrines. While some countries shook off allegiance
to the Church of Rome, in others that same Church was in
full hue and cry pursuing Jews and Protestants. Even-where
truth and error were being bitterly discussed, and heresy-
hunting was the order of the day.

Into the midst of all these burning questions was flung that
of the Abyssinian Church. The most learned theologians had
cross-questioned Saga Zaab, and they were not satisfied with
his replies. They multiplied their conferences with him and
concluded that he was unsound. Father Francisco's narrative,
published in 1540, threw further discredit upon Abyssinian
orthodoxy, and Fides, religio, moresque came to confirm the
gravest fears. A list of errors was drawn up from the two
books, and the damning total numbered forty-one.

So the hideous truth gradually dawned. That Prester John's
church was schismatic all had been aware. The distance and
difficulty of communications had been blamed for that. Over-
come the one, and facilitate the second, and it was assumed
that Prester John would be quite happy to make submission
to the Church of Rome.

But the case was found to be far worse than a mere schism.
There was heresy to be eradicated too. There was no getting
away from it. Prester John, the supposed bulwark of the
Christian faith, the upholder of the Gospel torch amid the
night of Islam, the ally of whom Portugal had expected so
much Prester John was a heretic! Thenceforward it would
be necessary to face this painful fact

The result was the Jesuit mission.

168

The Bishop Takes a Hand

As Patriarch of Abyssinia, Joao Bermudez was not a success.
Very shortly after joining each other, he and the Emperor had
already fallen out. We only have Joao Bermudez's version of
the quarrel.

He says that he urged Galawdewos to make submission to
the Pope as his father Lebna Dengel had done before. The
young Emperor answered that his parent had done nothing
of the land, and the discussion that ensued was lively.

**You are not our Abuna, nor prelate of ours, 7 * the Emperor
said to Dom Joao Bermudez, "only Patriarch of the Franks
and, 7 * he added with a fine confusion of theology, "you are
an Arian who has four gods."

*And I told him that he lied. I was not Arian, and I had not
four gods; but since he would not obey the Holy Father, I
considered him as a cursed excommunicate."

Tou are the excommunicate, not I," retorted the young
man, and they parted in anger.

It was not a promising beginning, and though that first tiff
was made up, relations between the Emperor and the Patri-
arch stiffened from day to day.

Galawdewos was an intelligent young man with a passion
for religious controversy, and it did not take him long to
plumb Joao Bermudez's depths. "He has no learning at all/*

170

The Bishop Tafes a Hand

is the verdict of an anonymous Portuguese contemporary,
"and he chants the divine service with great difficulty, be-
cause he knows no better." He never preaches, we are further
told, "because he does not know how." In twelve years that
he was with the Portuguese he neither said Mass nor yet con-
fessed himself. In spite of this "he excommunicates and ab-
solves very easily owing to his great lack of prudence." The
Emperor kept him prisoner on an island for nearly a year be-
cause he was exasperated by his ignorance. The Patriarch, it
would appear, took the sacrament after the Abyssinian fash-
ion, which, rather surprisingly, annoyed Galawdewos: "Since
he had come to teach them," said the Emperor, "why should
he use the native ceremonies?"

It seems, however, that there were worse sins than those of
ignorance to be laid at Dom Joao Bermudez's door. "He is,"
the same informant tells us, "a man covetous of temporal pos-
sessions and extortionate of what is given for his main-
tenance.** *

When Castanhoso left for Portugal he carried a letter from
Galawdewos to Dom Joao III complaining of the so-called
Abuna's conduct.

The King knew Dom Joao Bermudez. and his sympathy
was for his royal colleague. "I am very displeased," he writes
on March 13, 1546, "with the doings of Joao Bermudez, whom
your father sent me as ambassador." The King promises to
send to the Emperor a new Patriarch next year. This one
would be a "person of such zeal and exemplary life that in all
things he will serve Our Lord and give you satisfaction. You
will be able to discuss together the affair of Joao Bermudez
and come to what decision you think fit concerning him. 9 *
Dom Joao is quite willing that the culprit should be punished
"according to his errors." The King only recommends that
the man's life should be spared out of regard for "that dignity
of Patriarch which he had chosen to assume, though no one
gave it to him.* Otherwise great discredit might be brought
on Christendom.

m

The Land of Prester John

Having thus washed his hands of Dom Joao Bermudez, the
King wrote to the Pope and to Ignatius Loyola, requesting
them to take charge of the spiritual welfare of Abyssinia.

Ignatius Loyola would have loved to go himself had he
been able to do so. He had to be content with selecting some
of his best men, and composing an entirely tactful letter to
the Emperor in which he explained at great length the unity
of the Christian Church under the Roman See. "Your High-
ness/* he points out, "should give Our Lord infinite thanks,
that in the days of your fortunate reign He should have sent
your devout people true pastors of souls, who are dependent
upon the chief shepherd/*

But His Highness was serenely unaware that either he or
his devout subjects might need pastors from Rome or Portu-

fal. He had already sent to Alexandria for a new Abuna, and
anished Dom Joao Bermudez from his court.
The discredited Patriarch wandered about the realm, curs-
ibg the villages through which he passed. After several years
of travel and adventure he came to Debaroa, waiting for an
opportunity to sail for India. There, in 1555, he met a Jesuit
priest, Father Gonalo Rodrigues, who told him that another
Patriarch was on the way. Between the Abuna from Alexan-
dria, already installed in Abyssinia, and the Patriarch from
Portugal, Joao Nunes Barreto, who had reached India by that
time, there was no room for Dom Joao Bermudez. He sailed
for tidia and thence to Portugal, where he arrived in 1559.
He lived near Lisbon in retirement for eleven years, finding
solace in the composition of his more or less veracious mem-
oirs. He enjoyed the favour of the boy King Sebastiao, to
whom he must have had some thrilling tales to tell, and Diogo
do Couto says that he died a very holy death.

TTie Jesuits, meanwhile, were doing what they could for
Abyssinia, but the good fathers found it uphill work.

Padre Mestre Gon<jalo Rodrigues, referred to above, had
been the first one to arrive. He was a zealous and learned

172

The Bishop Tafcs a Hand

young man, who had been sent from Goa with a brother of
the Company to announce the coming of a Patriarch next
year.

When the Emperor received this news he looked a little
blank. How good of his brother Dom Joao, he murmured
politely, to take so much trouble over these things! Galaw-
dewos felt deeply grateful to the King of Portugal and was
entirely at his service. The conversation fizzled out in empty
compliments, and before Padre Gon$alo could get in another
audience, the Emperor was seized with an urge to visit his
grandmother. She lived a weeks journey away" and a month
went by before her dutiful grandson could tear himself away
from the old lady. But Padre Gongalo Rodrigues wasted no
time. He stayed in the house of one of Dom Cristovao's late
companions and there composed a treatise on "The Errors of
Ethiopia and the Truth of Our Holy Faith."

When Galawdewos was presented with this work, we are
told that "he was filled with ire," Ethiopia had no errors, said
he wrathfully.

"Your Highness has none/* Padre Gon9alo answered with
some tact, Tbut your subjects have.**

This Galawdewos refused to admit How was it, he de-
manded, that though their faith was of such ancient standing,
no one had ever come before to say that they erred?

"I replied," writes Father Confab, "that owing to man's sin
Our Lord sometimes permits such things, but he ought to
give thanks to God for having allowed him to be shown the
evangelical truth."

Galawdewos, however, was quite satisfied with evangelical
truth as expounded by the Church of his forefathers. When
asked if he would make submission to the Pope, he said em-
phatically that he would not. As for the "learned and re-
ligious men" that his brother of Portugal proposed to send
him, what was the use? said he. He had learned and religious
men in his own realm and so needed no others. Could the

173

The Land of Prestcr John

Portuguese Patriarch not come to Abyssinia, then? Of course
he could come if he wished, was the polite reply. The Em-
peror would be very pleased to see him.

Padre Gongalo Rodrigues felt that the situation was highly
unsatisfactory. It seemed that Prester John would give more
trouble than had been anticipated. At any rate the treatise
on truth and error enjoyed some success. In spite of the indig-
nation it had first aroused in him, Galawdewos studied it with
great interest and showed it to his family. He even had a quar-
rel with his own Abuna, it appears, for forbidding him to
study the pamphlet. The Emperor was obviously a man of
independent views and not to be coerced by anyone.

Father Gongalo also tried his dialectics on the Abyssinian
monks, not wholly without fruit. On one occasion when,
backed by the Scriptures, he had been demolishing all mono-
physite definition of the Trinity and pulverizing minor errors,
one of his listeners at least was quite impressed. "He came
and whispered in my ear, so that the other monks who were
idiots should not hear him, saying that I spoke the truth, and
he w r ould keep it in his heart."

Except for such slender encouragement, Gongalo Rod-
rigues had not a favourable report to give to his superiors at
Goa upon the Abyssinian attitude towards religious truth.
Trester John is such a heretic," he said, "that he considers
we are so, and that they are good Christians."

The Viceroy and Council decided that the Patriarch him-
self ought not to go until the Emperor was in a more receptive
frame of mind. His understudy in the mission, the newly con-
secrated Bishop of Hierapolis, would first try his hand, and
when the ground had been prepared the Patriarch could
follow.

The Bishop's name was Dom Andr de Oviedo. He was a
Castilian by birth, tall, thin, learned, saintly, and ascetic. He
was the first of Ignatius Loyola's Company to wear a mitre,
which dignity the Pope had specially bestowed on him in
order to add lustre to the Abyssinian mission.

174

The Bishop Ta^es a Hand

Dom Andre left India in 1557, with two fathers and three
brothers of the Company. They reached Debaroa on March 25
and were received with open arms by the survivors of Dom
Cristovao da Gama's army. With the exception of Miguel de
Castanhoso and one or two others, none of these men had
been able to get away. Far from sending a ship to fetch them,
as Castanhoso states that they requested, the King had or-
dered them to remain in the land of Prester John. They seem
to have accepted their exile with resignation, and with true
Portuguese adaptability they made the best of it. The Em-
peror helped to reconcile them to their lot, for Galawdewos
was by nature both generous and grateful. He gave them the
best of everything he had, and those who turned out to greet
the Bishop on his arrival were a splendid sight. They quite
outshone the Abyssinians, says the chronicler, by the diversity
and richness of their dress, while the retinue of servants,
horses, mules, and tents that followed them made them ap-
pear as the lords of the land.

One, Joao Gongalves^ brought his wife, a high-born Abys-
sinian lady, to introduce to the Bishop. She rode upon a hand-
some mule all draped with brocade trappings. She was ele-
fantly dressed in a rich tunic over a black velvet robe. She
ad silk Turkish trousers drooping to her feet, adorned by
golden buttons; massive gold bracelets hung upon her arms,
and on her head was a tall velvet hat. Her husband was also
bedecked in costly clothes, though his slashed cap with golden
points is described as old-fashioned.

Beside this ornamental couple rode another Portuguese
whose following of thirty lackeys afl were armed with swords,
lances, and guns. More and more resplendent figures joined
the party, all eager to present their wives and exhibit their
children. And the Bishop "praised God to see the Portuguese
thus married, rich, and happy in this land, all full of zeal to
receive and to serve their prelate,"

Dom Andre de Oviedo and his five priestly companions
wsre entertained by one after another. They were taken to the

175

The Land of Prester John

beautiful quintas and pleasances owned by the Portuguese
and "banqueted splendidly" in every one.

Amid all this feasting and rejoicing the fathers found much
work to do. There were innumerable confessions to be heard,
some of them years in arrears like Pero da Covilham, these
exiles seem to have been shy of unbosoming themselves to
Abyssinian priests and we gather that there were also a
number of unsanctified unions to bless. The Jesuit fathers
married and confirmed, confessed, and administered the sac-
raments with unfailing delight. They found this part of their
mission wholly satisfactory.

The Emperor proved a harder case, though he received the
Bishop "with humanity and love" and made him sit down by
his side on a leather cushion upon a rich carpet. Galawdewos
was reclining on a couch, dressed in a tunic over a Moorish
shirt, and long trousers of Persian cotton. He was "a broad
black man, with large eyes and an imposing presence." They
found him *noble and discreet and friendly to the Portu-
guese," but the Bishop's eloquence might as well have been
expended on a rock. Not that the Emperor did not listen to
Dom Andre's words. On the contrary. Galawdewos, like his
father, Lebna Dengel, had a passion for theology and could
have argued with the Bishop all day long. They got down to
it almost at once, closeted alone together. What passed be-
tween them is not known, but the Bishop emerged visibly
upset. That man,** said he in agitated tones to his colleagues,
"is a great heretic!**

Galawdewos had, no doubt, enjoyed a most interesting
talk, the first of many discussions, oral and in writing. The
Emperor and the Bishop argued sometimes with heat
each (?me they met, and bombarded each other with the
theological treatises that either composed. The Bishop's hair
was made to stand on end by the heresies which the Emperor
coolly enunciated in defence of circumcision, the observance
of the Jewish Sabbath, and similar abominations. Such prac-

176

The Bishop Ta\s a Hand

tices, the Bishop told the Emperor roundly, would certainly
take him to he

Although Galawdewos appears to have found pleasure in
shocking the Bishop, he is to be commended for his patience
none the less. It cannot be agreeable for a monarch to be
told before his court that he is heading for eternal flames. Nor
can it be less trying to have a foreign priest upbraiding him
"in public and in private" on the error of his ways. When, be-
yond all this, we read that the Bishop tried to'persuade the
Portuguese that it was wrong to serve so obstinate a heretic,
we are moved to admiration of the Emperor s restraint. "He
was always very courteous to the Bishop," writes the Superior
of the mission,' Father Manuel Fernandes, in his report to
headquarters at home, "and treated him in such a manner
that, while he lived, no one ventured to show him disrespect,
and he provided for us very liberally, for he was by nature
generous and open-handed, especially towards those con-
nected with the King of Portugal to whom he realized that
he owed much ... he was so friendly to the Bishop that in
spite of all his pertinacity we always hoped that some good
might result/*

All the same, there seem to have been one or two occasions
when this friendly intercourse came near to breaking down.
A couple of monks from a monastery, won over by the Bishop's
eloquence, announced their intention to embrace Catholi-
cism "and save their souls.* 7 The abbot demanded their return,
and persuaded the Emperor to intervene. The Bishop, as
might have been expected, refused to hand over his converts,
and Galawdewos lost his temper* "No?" said he, pacing the
floor in agitation, and turning, made as if he would attack the
Bishop, Dom Andr6 expected to be killed. He threw off his
cloak, and waited upon his knees for the blow. The Emperor
gazed at him and clapped his hands together with exaspera-
tion. But Galawdewos had a saving sense of humour.

**You think that you will die a martyr at my hands?* said
. 177

The Land of Prester John

he. **I will not give you that glory! Go, and take your monks.
Give them eggs on Friday, and' you can be Bishop of two
monks," Then turning to the Portuguese who were present:
*You see/' said he, "the man that my brother the King of
Portugal has sent me! Had he no Portuguese available?"

Castilian though he was, Dom Andre had been sent by the
King of Portugal, and so continued to enjoy the Imperial pro-
tection. It seems, moreover, that in spite of all their differences
Galawdewos esteemed the genuine goodness of the man. But
the Emperor feared that his successor might not be so tol-
erant or so bound by gratitude. "Poor Bishop!" he remarked
when marching to repulse a Moslem raid. "If I die, what will
become of him?"

The Emperor did die, as it happened, fighting like a hero
after his army had fled, and nearly all the Portuguese who
went with him were cut down at his side. The Moslem chief-
tain Nur ibn Mudi Ali Guazil sacked the Emperor's camp, took
prisoners, and slew and then departed. In this manner Grany
was avenged by Galawdewos's death a judgment on the
Emperor, the Jesuits said, for refusing to embrace the Catholic
faith! Adamas, his brother and successor, on the other hand,
viewed Galawdewos's end as a divine chastisement for suffer-
ing the Church of Rome to flourish in Ethiopia.

Adamas was a violent man who looked askance on foreign-
ers and newfangled ideas. The Portuguese soon found that
they had fallen from their high estate of trusted allies and
honored guests to that of alien undesirables. Even their chil-
dren, Ethiopian by birth, were viewed with disfavour as being
Catholics. The charge of heresy is one that may easily be flung
back at the accuser's face, and the dart shot by Europe into
Abyssinia recoiled upon the Europeans settled there. The Em-
peror issued a decree forbidding Abyssinian wives of Portu-
guese from following the religion of their husbands, and he
confiscated right and left the lands that his brother had be-
stowed upon Dom Crist6vao s s companions. As for the Jesuits,
he announced his intention of burning them all alive, and he

178

The Bishop TaJ(cs a Hand

imprisoned the Bishop. He told Dom Andre that he would
cut off his head unless he left off preaching. The Bishop re-
plied that if he had many heads and were to lose them all he
still would preach the holy faith as long as he had breath. The
enraged Emperor seized the Bishop and would have killed
him there with his own hands if the Queen had not restrained
her angry husband. Dom Andre de Oviedo was banished into
the wilderness with one companion.

It might have fared worse with the foreigners if Adamas
had not soon alienated his own subjects. It seems that he was
something of a tryant, and before his reign was two years old,
the nobles rose in rebellion, headed by the Bahr Xagach, and
crowned Adamas's young nephew Tascaro. The Emperor de-
feated the rebels in one battle, took his nephew prisoner, and
subsequently hurled him down a precipice. The Bahr Nagach,
however, found another princeling to crown and made alli-
ance with the Turks.

Such a dangerous situation appears to have cured the Em-
peror's xenophobia. He felt obliged to make friends with the
Portuguese, for they were the best fighters in the land. As the
Ethiopian chronicle describes them: They were valorous
and constant men, athirst for battle like the wolf, and hungry
for combat like the lion." We do not know how many of Doin
Crist6vao*s army still survived after twenty years, but of these
at least thirty, including their captain, Caspar de Sousa^ had
gone over to the Bahr Nagach. The majority refrained, how-
ever; on principle they disapproved of subjects taking arms
against their lawful sovereign. Insubordination to captains or
governors was comprehensible, not to say inevitable, at times.
A subject might defy a subject if he chose. But to rebel against
one's king was the act of a traitor. Most of the Portuguese,
therefore, condemned the Bahr Nagach and looked askance
on their compatriots who were supporting him.

About this time we find them all at court again, and seem-
ingly in favour. The Bishop and his fellow missionaries were
also there, though not apparently enjoying similar esteem.

179

The Land of Prester John

They were "very afflicted and oppressed," writes Padre Man-
uel Fernandes. If, however, as Diogo do Couto says, they were
intriguing with the Emperor's enemies, we can hardly blame
Adamas for viewing them with coldness and suspicion.

It w r as the foreigners who kept up the Emperor's drooping
spirits. Adamas was a superstitious man. He had been con-
sulting auguries and oracles and found them all unf favourable,
and hence was sunk in gloom. He could not fight, he told the
Portuguese to their disgust

They chose a strange method to excite his martial ardour.
One evening after supper seven of them seized their swords
and shields and loaded guns and proceeded to the royal tent,
beating a drum and shaking tambourines. As they drew near,
they all began to dance, singing at the top of their voices:

'Viva o Rei de Preste Joao
Que para of Turcos I um lector

(Long live the King Prester John
Who is a lion against the Turks!)

The din that they made was tremendous. The Emperor, the
Queen, and her ladies turned out with thirty torches to see
what was the matter, and stood there watching while the
Portuguese cut capers. When the dance was over, the dancers
all fired off their guns, shouting to the Emperor to raise his
tents and march against the Turks. Declaring their willing.
ness to die for him, they drew their swords and began to fence
with great agility. The Queen and her ladies were delighted.
Tltese are angels and not men!* they said ecstatically. The
noisy serenade roused the whole camp. AH the other Por-
tuguese, waving their swords, rushed up to join the fun, and
the Emperor, infected by the warlike fuiy, expressed his
readiness to do or die.

In the dispassionate light of day his pessimism revived. He
felt quite certain that he would come to grief, and he told the

180

The Bishop Takes a Hand

Portuguese that he was sorry for them. "With you/* he de-
clared sentimentally, "I am lice a hen that gathers her chick-
ens under her wings at the appearance of the hawk," and "I
am your only friend," he added, forgetting that he had not
always qualified for such a title.

The Emperor Adamas met his rebel subjects and their
Turkish allies on April 20, 1562. The Portuguese on either side
avoided one another and went for the Abyssinians or the
Turks. All might have been well with Adamas if his Ethiopians
had not been incurably gun-shy. When they heard the Turk-
ish cannon roar, they all turned tail and fled, and Adamas was
killed. The Emperor's camp was sacked and the Jesuits were
taken prisoner, but delivered by the Portuguese who had been
fighting in the rebels* ranks.

There is no clear record of the subsequent history of Dom
Crist6vao*s old companions, nor of the part they took in the
wars of the next reign. The Jesuits are better documented, and
we know that they made their headquarters at Fremona, near
the modern Adowa.

They were not persecuted by the new Emperor -- merely
ignored. Malac Segued, we are told, regarded them as holy
men although doctrinally unsound. Adamas's son did not
share the family passion for religious controversy, and the
Jesuits were never given a chance of expounding their views
to him. He left them to do what they liked at Fremona.

It was a hand-to-mouth existence that they led. Deprived
of the Imperial patronage, and cut off from the outer world,
there was no one to provide them with the necessaries of life.
The Bishop lived in a straw native hut His food was black
and sour bread, linseed and cabbages which vegetables,
says the shocked chronicler, he had to cultivate himself "with
his pontifical hands." He was so short of everything that when
he wished to write a letter he had to tear out the blank leaves
of his breviary, and after those were gooe to cut the margins
of its pages.

Dom Andr6 de Oviedo was a saintly sotd. He endured all

181

The Land of Prcster John

this miser}- with cheerful resignation, and whenever he had
anything to give away he promptly parted with it. He visited
the sick throughout the neighbourhood, acting as both doc-
tor and nurse, regardless whether the invalid were "freeman
or slave, Catholic or heretic."

The Christian virtues that the Bishop displayed had more
effect on those around him than all his former polemics and
learned treatises. Many Abyssinians, it appears, turned Cath-
olic out of pure admiration for the man. Such a holy life, they
reasoned, could not be founded on erroneous doctrine. Thus
the Bishop had the joy of making some converts at last.

In this manner Dom Andr de Oviedo lived, happy in spite
of poverty and persecution, until, struck down by fever in
1557, he still more gladly died.

The whole reign of Adamas and that of his son, Malac
Segued, is a blood-stained record of revolution and civil war.
To the devastation of internal struggles was added that of
Turkish raids. This realm," the Bishop wrote in 1567, "will
never know peace and order until the coming of the Portu-
guese." He hoped to see five or six hundred Portuguese sol-
diers from India sent to clear up the Abyssinian mess. With
their arrival **all Ethiopia would be converted," he declared,
in the sure conviction of his generation that forcible conver-
sions were better than none.

In India, however, not very much was known of what was
going on in Abyssinia, for news filtered through rarely and
by devious ways. In 1557 the Turks had captured Massawa
and every other port that gave the mountain empire access to
the sea. It was long since the Portuguese had sailed in force
beyond Bab-el-Mandeb, for the great days in the East were
almost over and the power of Portugal had begun to decline.
Persistently for more than half a century her finest manhood
had been shipped in annual batches to die overseas, and the
inevitable exhaustion was already manifest. There still were
twenty years to go before the final tragedy, but absorbed be-
tween what has been called "the slaughterhouse of Asia" on

182

The Bishop TaJ(es a Hand

the one side, and the limitless Brazilian forests on the other,
the nation s lifeblood was ebbing away.

Meanwhile the Portuguese in India and in Abyssinia at-
tempted to communicate, mostly without success. At Goa
the Jesuit Patriarch was waiting still, desperate at being un-
able to reach his post and wondering what had happened to
the Bishop. He begged the viceroy to give him a ship and
land him anywhere upon the Red Sea beach he was quite
willing to risk whatever followed. But the Viceroy refused.
Dom Joao Nunes Barreto, he said, was too high a dignitary
to expose to such danger. Brother Fulgencio Freire. an old
soldier and a less important person, might try his luck and
carry letters to the Bishop, as well as other useful things.

Brother Fulgencio Freire embarked, but neither reached
Abyssinia nor returned to India. The ship on which he sailed
came up against the Turks. The captain might have avoided
battle, but would not. With fifteen men he chose to take on
fifty, and so the ship was lost. Brother Fulgencio was carried
off to Cairo by the Turks. The Viceroy refused to send another
ship that way, and the Patriarch died of despair in 1562.

From the other side attempts \vere also made to break the
iron ring. Father Andre Gualdames, escorted by a Portu-
guese named Marco Fernandes, tried to pass the Turkish lines
and sailed for India in disguise.

They got as far as Massawa, and there they were betrayed.
The Turks drew out their scimitars and hewed them into slices.

183

What Travellers to
Abyssinia Might Expect

An Armenian walking through the streets of Diu attracted
the attention of the schoolboys of that town. Armenians
dressed not very differently from Moslems in those parts, and
the urchins did not know one from the other- "Mohammed!"
they all howled at the stranger passing by, for young Diu was
fanatically Christian as became the grandsons of Moslems.

The Armenian took no notice but went on his way. When
he entered the fort, however, the sentinel beside the gate did
not behave more decently than the schoolboys. "Ah, Moor!"
he cried, drawing his sword. "How dare you come into a Chris-
tian fort?" A comrade pointed out that it was an Armenian
not a Moor, and so the man was suffered to proceed. Anybody
who had cared to dog his steps might have seen him joined at
some time by an older man who was dressed in the same fash-
ion, and whoever listened to their conversation would have
heard the two Armenians talking Spanish. The pair were, in
fact, the Castilian Father Pero Paes and his Catalan colleague
Father Antonio de Monserrate, both Jesuit priests who had
left their headquarters at Goa on February 3, 1588, and were
hoping to reach Abyssinia with the help of the Lord.

The travelling joys to which they might look forward had
already been experienced by the Fathers Andre Gualdames
and Fulge&cio Freire. Facilities had not increased since the

184

What Travellers Might Expect

Turks had cut up Father Andr at Massawa; on the contrary,
only profoundest secrecy and deep disguise could get a trav-
eller past the danger zone. Yet when the Provincial at Goa
received orders to send more Jesuits to Abyssinia, we are told
that all the fathers were anxious to go.

The Provincial made careful selection among the men of
various nationality at his command. He picked out Father
Antonio de Monserrate, a veteran missionary' from the court
of the Great Mogul, and Pero Paes, a young man fresh from
his studies and newly arrived in India. Father Antonio, though
richly experienced, w r as rather old to send on such a journey,
but the choice of Pero Paes could not have been improved
upon. He had all the earnestness of his compatriot Dom Andre
de Oviedo, tempered by infinitely more tact. Pero Paes was,
moreover, cheerful, intelligent, adaptable, resourceful, quick
at languages, and what today would be called "a good mixer/'
for he was able to get on well with all sorts and conditions
of men.

The adventurous pair disguised themselves and sailed for
Diu to study there the problem of how to cross the Moslem
lands. A real Armenian from Aleppo offered his assistance in
the matter. He said that they could travel with him to his
country via Basra, and he would put them on the way to
Cairo. At Cairo they were sure to meet some caravan bound
for Ethiopia which they might join.

A very complicated route! commented Belchior Calaga,
captain of Muscat, where the ship bearing the Jesuits and
their Armenian friend put in for water. Instead of trailing up
the Persian Gulf and right across the desert, why not take
ship direct to Zeila or some port of the Red Sea? An Arab pilot
who was a good friend of his and often sailed that way might
easily be persuaded to take the priests as passengers.

It did appear a simpler plan. The, companions left tibeir Ar-
menian to continue his journey without them and waited
until the Arab was ready to sail Thus it came about that the
end of December 1588 saw the two missionaries, with a young

185

The Land of Prcster John

Syrian interpreter, on board a little ship that vainly tried to
fight its way up the Arabian coast against a strong head wind.

The weather grew worse as they went along; to make prog-
ress in such a storm was quite impossible, but neither could
they put back to Muscat. There was nothing but to run for
the nearest land.

Detached fragments of the desert cast into the sea, the
Kuria Muria Islands raise their forsaken rocks off the Arabian
coast. TTiese isolated dots upon the map, known to history
only in records of shipwreck, had for inhabitants the poorest
fishermen, who lived in seaweed-covered huts and fed on
sun-dried fish, uncooked for want of fuel. Their boats, it
seems, were better than their houses, and the Arab pilot man-
aged to hire one in which he hoped to sail as far as Zeila, for
the ship in which he had left Muscat was no longer seaworthy.
A week was spent at Kuria Muria, equipping the new vessel
for the voyage, which delay was long enough to seal the
Jesuits' fate.

Belchior Calaga's friend the pilot was no doubt a worthy
man. The only trouble was that he, too, had a friend to whom
he could not refrain telling important bits of news. That two
Franks w r ere travelling to Zeila on his ship was sufficiently
novel to be worth talking about, and so he passed it on. The
friend listened to the secret with interest, and immediately
wrote to inform a friend of his, living at Dofar beyond the
Kuria Muria Islands: a ship carrying two Portuguese (all
Europeans were Portuguese to Orientals of that time) was
sailing up the coast. If a sharp look-out were kept, some use-
ful prisoners might be caught for ransom!

The men of Dofar took the hint, and the delay at Kuria
Muria played the game into their hands. A flotilla patrolled
the coast until the travellers had set sail once more, when the
ship was waylayed and the two Jesuits with their interpreter
were carried off.

The captain of Dofar eyed the foreigners suspiciously.
What were they doing on that ship? he wished to know. They

186

What Travellers Might Expect

told the truth, that they were Christian priests bound for
Ethiopia to join the Portuguese already living there, but the
captain thought it was not a convincing story. The prisoners
were divested of most of their clothes and consigned to a
dilapidated building which Dofar ambitiously referred to as
the fort. Antonio de Monserrate and Pero Paes spent a few
days within its ramshackle walls, half-starved and eaten up by
fleas "and similar nocturnal guests a common produce of
those countries," the chronicler says tersely.

The captain later sent for them again. The question of their
belongings troubled him. Little had been found beyond the
clothes they wore, and as he had to dispatch the prisoners
to his King, he feared that he would be suspected of holding
something back. He therefore had them questioned before
witnesses, and after thus establishing his innocence he shipped
the three captives on a coasting dhow. Five days later they
were landed on an arid shore and, turning their backs upon
the sea whence lay a Christian captive's only hope of rescue,
their jailers led them off into the desert land.

It w r as a long and weary journey into the unknown. Day
after day the camels padded their way across the sand through
the great emptiness, their drivers guiding themselves by the
sun and stars as men do in mid-ocean. At first the prisoners
were expected to run barefoot beside the camels, but finding
that the unfortunate wretches could not keep pace, they were
allowed to ride among the baggage.

No food was offered them but roasted locusts. Antonio de
Monserrate and Pero Paes were both ascetic men, but they
did not succeed in emulating John the Baptist. They found
it quite impossible to swallow the insects, so their captors
made them some very little loaves out of the flour that had
been confiscated from the prisoners* own stores.

After ten blazing days they reached Tarim, in the heart of
Hadhramaut The dwellers in those lost towns of the desert
had not often the chance to see a foreisjn face; the whole of
Tarim therefore turned out to gape at the strange sight. Were

187

The Land of Prester John

these men followers of the Prophet? was the first question
asked. On hearing that they were not, all Tarim scowled and
burst into a torrent of abuse. When words failed to express
their pious rage, they spat in the prisoners' faces. By degrees
the faithful worked themselves up into such a frenzy that the
Christians would have been torn to pieces if their custodians
had not hurried them into a house. Pero Paes and Antonio de
Monserrate were smuggled out of the town at early dawn
before the fierce fanatics were abroad.

The next village w r as better. A brother of the King received
the captives pleasantly. He plied them with refreshing drinks
and asked them many questions. He also sounded their re-
ligious views, but "These men never will turn Moslem** was
the conclusion which he reached as a result, and he sent them
on to his brother, King Omar, at Henan.

The inhabitants of Henan were less fanatical than the men
of Tarim. They made no attempt to stone the prisoners, but
they spent a happy two days staring at them in die turret
where they were confined. Never in their lives had Pero Paes
and Antonio de Monserrate been the objects of such em-
barrassing publicity. The people came in relays and they came
in batches. Each time one man had gazed his fill, his place
was taken by another. All through the stifling day the for-
eigners were surrounded by groups of swarthy Arabs whose
carefully curled locks were caked with dust and soaked in
rancid butter.

The townsmen had not ceased to feast their eyes upon the
strangers when King Omar desired his turn and sent for them.
Hie scanty clothes that had been left the captives at Dof ar
were much the worse for desert travel and not considered
seemly to appear at court. The confiscated garments were
therefore restored before the two priests entered the royal
presence.

King Omar, a personable man aged about forty, was seated
on a dais spread with brocade. He was festively attired in
very fine green cloth and wore a gold-embroidered turban.

188

What Travellers Might Expect

He greeted the prisoners graciously and told them to sit down.
Waving aside the Syrian interpreter, he summoned an old
Peguan woman out of the harem. The King addressed her in
Arabic, which she translated into reasonably good Portu-
guese: "The King tells you not to be distressed, for God has
led you here but," she added in an aside, "I say that for your
sins you have been brought among such evil men/*

The afternoon was spent in question and in answer, for
King Omar was curious and had many things to ask. In the
end the priests begged that they might have their breviaries
returned to them, to which the King agreed. He sent the books
back the next day, "which was no small consolation."

There was not much else to console the prisoners during
the long empty days they passed in that forsaken town, won-
dering what their fate \vould be.

The Peguan woman came to visit them at last and explained
the position. King Omar, it appears, would have liked to keep
the prisoners until they were ransomed, but dared not for
fear of his overlords, the Turkish conquerors of Yemen. The
Pasha had decreed that Portuguese prisoners were his by
right, and no doubt would demand them.

The Jesuits asked the woman to tell them her story and
how she came to be in this Arab town. She told them that she
used to be a Christian and embarked many years ago upon a
ship sailing from Chaul to Ormuz. A tempest threw them onto
the Arabian coast, where the eight Portuguese with whom
she was had been enticed ashore and captured. She and they
were taken to Omar's father, then the reigning King. The
woman, no doubt young and attractive at the time, was sent
to the harem, but the men endured a cruel captivity. The
King tried to persecute them into turning Moslem, which all
eight steadily refused to do.

One of them, whose name was Preto, said the woman,
thought that he had made a friend. This Arab, who sailed to
Melindi every year, agreed to carry a letter to the Portuguese
stationed there. Preto therefore wrote to his compatriots, im-

189

The Land of Prcstcr John

ploring them to send a ship to the Arabian coast and capture
a few natives there in order to exchange them for the prison-
ers in Hadhramaut.

Somebody in Henan must have been able to read Portu-
guese, for the gist of the letter was repeated to the King. He
sent for Preto in a fury. "Is this your letter?" he demanded,
and the prisoner said it was. "Then," cried the King with rising
anger, "you shall turn Moslem here and now, or else die at
my hands!

"I am not a man to turn Moslem," said Preto sturdily, where-
upon the King had his head smitten off and his body flung
out of the window. His seven companions, though they stuck
to their faith, did not meet with such a violent end. Worn out
by hard treatment and illness, one by one they died, and so
the woman alone remained.

And would she not return to the Christian fold? pleaded
the captive priests, but, weeping, she refused. She had not
the courage, she sobbed, to confess Christ before Moslems,
and their preaching drew from her nothing but tears,

Antonio de Monserrate had spent four months in Henan
before the Pasha of Yemen heard about their existence. He
sent word to Omar that these prisoners were his and he must
have them.

The Arab kinglet hastened to obey. The captives were dis-
patched at once, together \pith a present of four horses not
a love gift, but an offering prompted by fear in order to placate
the Turkish tyrant.

On June 27 the last fortress of Omar's kingdom was left
behind, and the pathless desert engulfed the caravan. Four
days and nights the camels ploughed the wastes before they
reached and rested by an oasis. The next day they passed
through Melfcis, a town left in the desert long ago, for cen-
turies abandoned to the sun and sand. Here ruins of great
buildings raised by a forgotten race bore inscriptions that no
Arab could decipher. The Queen of Sheba, so the local legend
ran, had ruled over this city in her time. This appeared to the

190

What Travellers Might Expect

Jesuits to be likely enough, and they gazed upon the ancient
stones with keen interest.

The capital of Yemen, on the Arabian plateau, concealed
its fruitful orchards and its palmy gardens behind a powerful
encircling wall. Here was the Pasha s residence, and his Gov-
ernor rode out of the city gates to meet the prisoners with
trumpets sounding. He made a spectacular return into the
town with the captives walking before his horse as in a Roman
triumph. Having undergone "the customary cross-question-
ing at the Pasha s palace, the two Jesuits were led away to an
evil-smelling dungeon in every way as bad, the chronicler
affirms, as the prisons of Tetuan.

Father Antonio de Monserrate struck his failers as being
too old and weak to put in irons, but Pero Paes was young
and able-bodied; heavy chains were therefore clamped on
his ankles, and in these fetters he was daily led out to work.

The two Jesuits were not alone in their foul prison. They
found twenty-six Portuguese and five Indian Christians there,
who had been captured off the Malindi coast It would be
edifying to be able to say that these companions in misfor-
tune were like one big family, but the melancholy truth is that
they were at daggers drawn, and on the point of murdering
one another. Close confinement makes men sick of their com-
rades* faces especially men whose tempers are short. The
two priests found good work cut out for themselves.

Their mission was successful. Such was the effect of precept
and example that before long even the Turks could hardly
recognize their fiery prisoners. And it seems that virtue
brought its own reward, for soon after the captives* reforma-
tion they found their lot greatly improved.

It happened that the Pasha was a keen horticulturist. He
had begun life in a humble way as gardener to the Grand
Turk. Thoueh he had risen to greatness, he did not blush to
own his lowly origin. On the contrary, he gloried in it. The
hoe with which he once had tilled the Sultan's garden at Con-
stantinople hung like a trophy in the palace hall. His own

191

The Land of Prcster John

gardens were the finest in Yemen, and now the idea occurred
to him to employ his Christian captives in cultivating them.

The Portuguese seem to have been delighted, for the love
of gardening is deeply rooted in that flower-loving race.
They applied themselves to their new work with enthusiasm
and,' we may gather, with considerable success. At Easter
time the chapel which the Jesuits had improvised in their
prison was transformed by the gardeners into one bright mass
of flowers.

The prisoners* quarters were no longer in the dismal cellar
where they were first confined. In this respect also conditions
had improved. The Christians had been allowed to move up
to the airy and spacious first floor of the building, where they
seem to have had the whole place to themselves and divided
up the accommodation as they chose. The priests were al-
lotted two large apartments, in one of which they fitted up
their little chapel, "very well arranged,'* we are informed. Not
only was it beautified at Easter time, but at Christmas it was
bright with many candles made with wax which the gardeners
obtained from the Turks in exchange for fruit and flowers.
The fathers also managed to make and put together one of
those presepios (Christmas cribs) which are still popular in
Portugal today. The Turks were fascinated by this one and
flocked to gaze upon it. They must have been far less fanati-
cal than the Arabs of Hadhramaut. Christians would never
have been allowed such latitude at Tarim or Henan.

IB this manner two years went by, not without consolations.
From time to time money arrived from Christian centres ( the
ransom of captives was a favourite charity in that age, and
the object of pious legacies ), and one prisoner or another ob-
tained his liberty. But the Pasha expected a higher sum to be
paid for the two priests.

j <& J XT ^^ ji VfV/ii*

panion had been more fortunate than they. The Governor of
the town took a fancy to this lad and made him his house
slave. Like Joseph, the young man won favour by his excellent

192

What Travellers Might Expect

conduct, and his master made him caterer for the household.
The youth handled money so faithfully and was so exact in
returning the change that his lord was often moved to give
him handsome tips, which he always handed over to the two
priests, who often lacked the necessaries of life. This little
help was soon cut off, however, for the Syrian had a further
stroke of luck. He met a Turk hailing from his own country.
This man had influence with the Pasha and obtained the boy's
freedom from him. The Syrian set off joyfully for his native
land, but promised the Jesuits not to stay there long. He would
return to India overland via Ormuz and report to headquar-
ters about the missionaries' captivity and have them ran-
somed.

One day it seemed that they might not have to wait till then,
for they, too, were in luck. The Pasha had a wife of Christian
origin, who greatly wished to see the two Jesuits. Her curi-
osity went no further than this she knew that she could not
speak to a man. A pretext was found in the person of her small
son, aged seven. The lady sent word that she would like to
show this prodigy to the stranger priests. A time and place
accordingly were fixed. The gardeners gave the Jesuits a jar
of their rose water to present to the child. Thus they visited
the Pasha's son, while the Pasha's wife, hidden behind a shut-
tered window, feasted her eyes upon the foreigners unseen
by them.

Antonio de Monserrate and Pero Paes must have adopted
the right manner towards the little boy, for they clearly made
the conquest of his mother. She told her son to beg his father
for their freedom and to send them to Jerusalem. The Pasha
was a fond father and listened to his child. He promised to
give the priests their liberty and would actually have done so,
but his treasurer protested. It was madness, this Turk de-
clared, to let the Jesuits go. Did the Pasha not understand that
5,000 cruzados could be extorted for their ransom? Did he
feel like sacrificing such a sum?

That certainly would be a pity, the Pasha concluded on

193

The Land of Prester John

second thoughts. He had given his word, but what of that?
Sentiment ought not to weigh when 5,000 cruzados were at
stake.

He appears to have awakened to new interest in the two
Jesuits' ransom. Since they were worth so much money, he
told the treasurer, better take steps to squeeze it out. The
treasurer hastened to put on the screw, and life became very
grim for Pero Paes and Antonio de Monserrate. The Turk,
hoping that starvation would have the desired result, reduced
their ration to one loaf a day, of husks rather than flour. The
reason for this rigour was duly explained, but, in accordance
with the rules of sound'bargaining as recognized throughout
the East, since 5,000 cruzados were the price that had been
fixed, the Turks demanded 20,000.

During a wretched eighteen months the only consolation
in the captives* life was Mullah Ali. This rather intriguing per-
sonage was a Turk from Argel, son of a Christian slave. He
was deeply learned in all the holy books of Islam, and his fre-
quent pilgrimages to Mecca had invested him with an aura of
sanctity. Devout Moslem though Mullah Ali was, he does not
appear to have been bigoted. He remembered that his mother
had been a Christian woman, and he could meet Franks with-
out prejudice. He moreover revelled in theological discus-
sions, to which of course the Jesuits had been highly trained.
Mullah Ali therefore enjoyed talking to Pero Paes and An-
tonio de Monserrate, and, happily for them, he liked such
conversation during meals. The starving prisoners were in-
vited to "copious dinners," and while partaking of earthly re-
freshment they discoursed with their host of heavenly things.

At these banquets they were often joined by Ali Pasha, a
native of Seville, who had been captured by the Turks when
he was eight years old. He had been educated in the faith of
Islam, and risen to high honour in their midst, but he never
had borne arms against Christians, he told the priests.

Hiese intellectual parties were only an interlude. Mullah

184

What Travellers Might Expect

All and All Pasha both went away, and so, the chronicler says
sadly, "that was the end of the good dinners/*

A very savage Turk appeared upon the scene about this
time. By way of speculation, he offered to buy the captive
Jesuits from the Pasha of Yemen. They could not agree about
the price, however. He would not offer above 3,000 cruzados,
and the Pasha hoped to do better than that, so the deal was off.
It was a lucky escape for Antonio de Monserrate and Pero
Paes, for this Turk seems to have been a dangerous lunatic.
The Pasha, for reasons of his own, seized some of his luggage
and refused to restore it; whereupon we are told that this man,
"full of an infernal impatience," slashed himself open in his
rage and, pulling out his own entrails, proceeded to cut them
into little bits until he died! When his son tried to stop him
at this ghastly operation, the ruthless suicide turned the knife
upon the young man and stabbed him to death.

Meanwhile the Pasha's treasurer had informed the captives
that 5,000 cruzados was the lowest sum that his master could
think of accepting. The Jesuits replied that much as they de-
sired their freedom, they could not promise what they did
not possess, so they were once more cast into chains. This
time they were relegated to a tiny dungeon where three people
might just have squeezed, sitting with their heads touching
the ceiling. They would have died there very soon, but not
wishing to incur financial loss, their jailers took them out in
time. They were dispatched to Mocha, by the shores of the
Red Sea. It would be easier to negotiate their ransom from
this port, where merchants* ships from India came and went

Thus the priests were sent upon their third journey across
Arabia. They travelled via Taiz to the coast, a very trying
trek. Father Antonio de Monserrate was fast wearing out and
did not feel safe perched on a camel. Having fallen off once,
he begged to be allowed to ride a donkey, but as it happened,
this made matters worse. A camel knocked the little donkey
down with Father Antonio underneath. The poor old man

195

The Land of Prcstcr John

was badly bruised and shaken and had to be supported for
the rest of the way by Pero Paes and a kindly Brahman who
followed the caravan.

What about those 5,000 cruzados? was the remark with
which they were greeted at Mocha by the Pasha's minion who
took charge of the prisoners. They were incarcerated in a dark
and stifling warehouse, filled with bales of pepper, cinnamon,
and cloves, the scent of which, brought out by the terrific
heat, came near to asphyxiating them.

It was a scorching day, hot even for the southern shores of
the Red Sea, and everyone was gasping. The Pasha's officer
upstairs was having water sprinkled on him by his Abyssinian
slave, who seems to have been a good-hearted lad. "Sir/* he
exclaimed, "if even up here we are roasting in this fiery heat,
what will happen to those wretches down below among the
bales of spices? Let me go and fetch them out before they die/'
His master consented the prisoners after all were worth

monev and the boy rescued them just in time to save their

i-

lives.

The Pasha's deputy later on sent for Pero Paes.

"My master orders me," he said, "to chain you foot and
neck, I shall put the collar on you, but not the fetters, for
you will have to run before my horse, with my sword pricking
from behind to goad you on.**

"And you can loll us with it," answered Pero Paes serenely,
"if those are your orders. There is nothing that would make
us happier than to die for our holy faith."

"Since you so ardently desire it," sneered the Turk, "you
soon will meet with death when you are flayed alive."

These, however, were only threats. So long as there was
any hope of ransom, no attempt would be made on the prison-
ers* lives. The Turk did not flay them alive, but sent them to
thegalleys,

Tae lot of galley-slaves was bad at best, and these two
tasted it in its worst form. The master of their galley had him-
self been a slave chained to the bench, and he took special joy

196

What Travellers Might Expect

in avenging upon other wretches what he had once endured.

One would have thought that in their captors* own interest
the oarsmen should have been well fed, but they were starved.
A very small ration of red millet was issued even* day, which
chicken-feed they had to grind without a mill and which
there was no wood to cook with.

Pero Paes was resourceful. He managed to find two stones
between which by superhuman efforts he could crush the
corn. The broken fragments he put in a jar, and dropped
sparks on them. The result was partly burnt and partly raw,
but such as it was, they had to eat it or starve.

If the days were bad, the nights were even worse. In the
fiery heat of the Red Sea the cramped and filthy space below
the galley deck was humming with mosquitoes and crawling
with fleas. The prisoners could hardly snatch a wiiik of sleep,
but spent the hours brushing away the myriad insects that
settled on their faces, "some singing and others biting.** It is
a marvel that these men did not go mad.

Antonio de Monserrate was an old man and at the end of
his tether. His son fell very ill. Even so the Turks would have
kept him chained to his bench if his companion had not re-
monstrated with the captain. The Pasha would doubtless hold
him responsible, said Pero Paes, if that captive were to die.
This made their tormentor thoughtful. After all, the Pasha
would not like to lose his money. Antonio de Monserrate was
given leave to go ashore, with Pero Paes in charge of him, but
from the moment that they left the galley, their meagre ration
was cut off.

A kindly merchant took pity on them in these straits. He
gave them rice and butter of his own, and lent two eruzados
fen: their maintenance until some help from India should
arrive.

With such resources Pero Paes nursed his invalid and fed
him upon rice. The old man must have had a splendid consti-
tution, for in spite of every disadvantage He recovered and re-
sumed his seat upon the galley bench.

197

The Land of Prester John

It was only for a short time. Their ransom really came at
last thanks to the faithful Syrian. He had kept his promise
and returned to India via the Persian Gulf and told the story
of the priests' captivity. The Viceroy took immediate action
and so one day a ship arrived at Mocha from Diu with joy-
ful news. An Indian native had been sent with letters and
the ransom!

Negotiations were opened at once. The Viceroy's orders
were to ransom the missionaries at any cost, but the pair saw
to it that the demand was not excessive. An Oriental may be
past master in the art of bargaining, but a southern European
is not very far behind. Antonio de Monserrate and Pero Paes
shrugged their shoulders and displayed such complete, such
convincing indifference to their liberty that instead of the
5,000 cruzados for which they had clamoured, the Turks were
soon agreeing to accept 1,000! Even then the prisoners raised
loud protests. What was the use, they asked the Viceroy's mes-
senger, of wasting so much money? They were accustomed to
their captivity keep the ransom for others! But the Indian
was quite satisfied that he would not get better terms and
counted out the sum.

The two priests were just about to leave Mocha, free men
at last Already the anchor was weighed, the sails unfurled,
when the captain of the Turkish galley appeared on board,
deeply aggrieved. Where did he come in? said he. He had re-
ceived no compensation for the time he had permitted them
to stay ashore. A hundred cruzados, he felt, would be neces-
sary to meet the case, and if they did not propose to pay, he
would drag them back to his galley forthwith.

There was no time to appeal to the Pasha against this highly
unjustified extortion, and the Turk if he chose had power to
carry out his threat. The ruffian was given his hundred cru-
zados, and the captives really got away.

After seven years* captivity in the Arabian desert Antonio
de Monserrate and Pero Paes reached India once again. After
the dungeons of Yemen, and benches of the Red Sea galleys,

198

What Travellers Might Expect

the austere monastic life of their brethren at Goa seemed
luxury and rest. Antonio de Monserrate did not live to enjoy
it long. He died at Goa shortly after their return, as might
have been expected.
A few years later Pero Paes set out again for Abyssinia-

199

There came to our country a man from Jerusalem named Mo-
allimPetros. . . . His beard was red as flames of fire ... he
spoke Geez and knew all our books better than our own wise
men. . . .

This fiery-bearded stranger moving through Ethiopian
legend has been identified with Father Pero Paes. He did
reach Abyssinia in the end, and was followed there by two
colleagues, Father Antonio Fernandes of Lisbon and the Nea-
politan Father Francisco Antonio de Angelis.

Pero Paes arrived in 1602, when for many years no white
man had reached Abyssinia. The most recent attempt had
been that of the Maronite Jesuit Father Abraham de Georgiis,
who was beheaded by the Turks in 1595. In 1597 the last of
the five priests who came with Dom Andre de Oviedo had
died at Fremona, and the Catholics in Abyssinia felt them-
selves very much cut off.

These ^Portuguese," as the descendants of Dom Cristovao's
army persisted in calling themselves, were no longer recog-
nizable as such. The Jesuit chronicler Baltasar Teles tells us
that a few of the original heroes survived, but they must have
been over eigjhty years old Their sons and grandsons by Ethi-
opian mothers could not claim to be white men any more.
Yet; Ethiopian though they were in birth, custom, and colour,

200

Success

their heart's loyalty was still for the far-off ancestral home.
Their exiled fathers had taught them to feel in some measure
like exiles themselves, and the little kingdom by the Western
Ocean had been painted to them as a lost paradise. Thus these
half-castes fostered their sentiment of nationality and clung
to the religion of their fathers as part of the birthright that
marked them for a race apart. The last Jesuit's death was like
the severing of a link with a beloved past; the successive ar-
rivals of Pero Paes and his companions were therefore greeted
with joy.

Pero Paes had forced the Turkish barrier thanks to a pious
fraud by means of which, Baltasar Teles says, he had "de-
ceived the Devil/* It was the good man's Arabic, perfected
during seven years' captivity, that made it possible to foil the
Evil One, with the assistance of a histrionic gift. Pero Paes
personated an Armenian so successfully this time that no
one found him out, and he struck up a warm friendship with
a Turk from Suakin whom he met at Diu. This amiable Otto-
man offered to repatriate him, and the supposed Armenian
jumped at the idea. Fraternizing happily with a crew of mis-
cellaneous Orientals, Father Pero Paes sailed into the Red
Sea. At Massawa he said that he must go ashore to fetch some
things of his that had remained there, and so he disembarked
and walked away. He had managed to find a messenger at
Massawa to go ahead and tell the Portuguese of his arrival.
They sent at once to meet him on the way, and he was guided
safely to Fremona, in spite of robbers that walked the hills by
day, and "a large and fearsome lion** that strolled around the
tent by night

Ethiopia was in the throes of its habitual dynastic strug-
gles. Each one of Lebna Bengal's grandsons and great-grand-
sons appears to have made his bid for the Imperial throne.
Constant upheavals were the result while these princes mur-
dered and exiled one another, and fought the savage GaHa
tribes by way of interlude.

Pero Paes did not at once proceed to court. He remained at

201

The Land of Prcster John

Fremona, where he catechized the so-called Portuguese and
taught young Abyssinians. He also devoted himself to the
study of Geez and Amharic, both of which languages he
picked up in an amazingly short time* While so engaged he
translated into the vernacular a Tioly little book" by the
Jesuit Father Doctor Marcos Jorge. This was a form of brighter
catechism in which the Church's doctrines were expounded
painlessly in a series of dialogues. The most promising of Padre
Pero Paes's little pupils were made to learn these dialogues by
heart and repeat them before selected audiences.

The result was an unqualified success. It filled their listeners
with joy to hear these infants hold forth fluently upon "the
height of divine mysteries,'* and the youthful theologians were
in constant demand to go through their performance at the
houses of local magnates.

Pero Paes's fame as an educationalist soon reached the tem-
porary Emperor, Za Danguil. This monarch is described as
"very affable, and at the same time very curious." He sent for
Pero Paes and received him graciously, inquiring politely after
the health of the Pope and the King.

The Emperor moreover heard the Jesuit say Mass and lis-
tened while he preached. Father Pero Paes no doubt had
plenty to say, but, in order not to weary anyone, he consider-
ately cut down his sermon to "only one hour's duration. . . .
Generally speaking," reflects Baltasar Teles, "if a preacher
continues over an hour, his listeners are bored."

The missionaries had great hopes of Za DanguiL Though
he did not actually pronounce himself, he strongly inclined
towards the Church of Rome. He composed a letter to the
Pope, and also to the King of Portugal, Dom Felipe the sec-
ond of those four "intruder kings" who reigned over both
Spain and a disgusted Portugal.

"Peace to Your Majesty!* Za Danguil wrote, and "How are
you?" He told of the arrival of Pero Paes, and referred to the
past victories of the Portuguese. "Now we have some enemies
called the GaBas/* the Emperor further explains, "who lay

202

Success

waste our land . . . wherefore we beg Your Majesty to send
us warriors, and at the same time your daughter to marry our
son that our friendship may be firm, and we may have one
body and one heart. Our son is seven years old, and we hear
that your daughter is three. Let us bring them up together
with the milk of wisdom, and teach them the Holy Scriptures."

Dom Felipe, however, was not called upon to invent an
excuse for not sending the future wife of Louis XIII to drink
the milk of wisdom with the small Ethiopian prince. A cer-
tain Za Selassie rose in revolt against Za Danguil and slew him
with his own hand. Abyssinia only calmed down again when
Susenyos took command.

Susenyos was a prepossessing person. His face was long,
his forehead broad, his brown eyes pleasant and vivacious.
He had a pointed nose, thin lips, and a thick black beard
adorned his chin; his stature was above the average, and he
was powerfully built. But for his dark complexion, we are told,
he might have been a European.

Susenyos and the Jesuits became friends at once. Since
Pero Paes's arrival in 1603, several colleagues had succeeded
in joining him, and the Emperor gave them some "very good
lands" in Dembea, and permission to build a church at Gor-
gorra, near Lake Tsana. His favour went even further than
that he actually invited them to dine!

This was an almost unheard-of distinction. The Emperor
always ate in solitary glory, his greatest condescension being
to invite a favoured and exalted few to finish what was left
over from his repast after he had withdrawn. The Jesuits, how-
ever, were to enjoy the unique honour of dining while the
Emperor dined, at a table beside his own, divided from him
only by a curtain.

*Table" is not quite the correct word to use for the circular
boards or trays placed on the floor on which the Abyssinians
laid their meals. Neither in this nor in any other way had the
amenities of dining made progress since the Ras of Angot en-
tertained Father Francisco Alvares, almost a century earlier.

203

The Land of Prcstcr John

There were, declares Baltasar Teles, "neither fork nor spoon,
nor napkin, cruet, cinnamon-sifter, sugar-basin, salt-cellar,
nor pepper-pot, neither dish, nor carvers, nor anything else."
Trenchers of bread did duty both as napkins and for plates
till they were eaten, and of course there was no tablecloth.

Throughout the meal the curtain veiling the Emperor from
his guests was never lifted which our chronicler suggests
was just as well, for to see His Imperial Highness eat was
not a pretty sight. In Ethiopia the great and noble considered
it beneath their dignity to feed themselves; the Emperor there-
fore sat impassive while his pages rammed balls of food into
his mouth. These balls, made up of bread rolled and well
kneaded by hand and dipped in sauce, were of such size that
the pages could hardly poke them between the monarch's
open jaws, "but still they go on putting them, not to say stuff-
ing them, in, one after another, in the manner in which here
in Portugal we fatten ducks for a feast"

Susenyos's favour to the Jesuits was not a passing fancy. He
gave them audience every day, and all their conversation with
him, it appears, was on religious matters. Their words of wis-
dom deeply impressed the Emperor, and he granted them
full liberty to teach and preach throughout the land.

In spite of protection from the throne theirs was no easy
mission. It was not the difference between the Roman and
the Abyssinian Churches that caused the stumbling-block
it was their similarity. The Western priests had no new Gospel
to preach to Christians of the East, and the great schism
which had divided the Churches was over abstruse theologi-
cal definitions such as most laymen are content to leave to
doctors of divinity. Beyond this was the observance of sundry
ancient rites dear to the people's heart, and the question of
obedience to the Pope, who was a vague and almost mythical
figure to the Abyssinims, a year's journey away.

In the circumstances the missionaries* best chance of suc-
cess depended on their personality, and, as it happened, this
was their strong point It is certain that they compared f avour-

204

Success

ably with the average Abyssinian priest. They were men of
blameless lives and rigid morals, whereas the standards preva-
lent in Ethiopia were very low. Also, coming as they did from
centres of a higher civilization, the European priests were in-
tellectually superior to their ignorant African colleagues.
There is no denying that the Jesuits were a power for progress
in the land. During the whole of Susenyos's reign their efforts
were untiring for the moral and material welfare of the peo-
ple among whom they had cast their lot They opened schools
and taught both in Ainharic and in Portuguese; they set up a
printing press and made new translations of the Gospels into
Amharic, and rendered European commentaries on the Scrip-
tures into Geez. They traced roads and they built bridges,
some of which have been in use till modern times; they erected
a number of churches, and they taught the Abyssinians to
build two-storeyed houses in stone and cement

The Jesuit mission also contributed to the general store of
human knowledge. They studied all the Geez and Amharic
records, and gave the world some detailed histories of the
ancient African Empire. They took notes of the customs of its
people, and described the geographical features of the land,
which they explored from end to end. Father Pero Paes vis-
ited the sources of the Nile. Father Manuel Barradas wrote
a full description of the Kingdom of Tigre, and Father An-
tonio Fernandes, searching for a safe route from Ethiopia to
Malindi, penetrated into the almost unknown lands of Enarea
and Janjeiro.

The most powerful factor in the success of the mission was,
undoubtedly, the personal magnetism of Pero Paes. That man
possessed to an astonishing degree the indefinable something
that we lamely describe by saying that Tie had a way with
Kim.** Padre Pero Paes was everybody's friend, and the Em-
peror simply could not do without bin. Susenyos had never
seen such a man: *1 have everything in him, 1 * he said, "teacher,
counsellor, and general handyman.

Without ever having learned, it seems that the versatile

205

The Land of Prester John

Pero Paes could take a hand as painter, locksmith, architect,
mason, or carpenter, and he designed a palace for the Em-
peror, training the workmen himself and teaching them to
make their tools* The result was impressive, and still stands
today. "It could quite well have served as country house for
a European prince," was the white man's verdict upon the
new palace, and to the Abyssinians it seemed one of the won-
ders of the world. They had never seen a two-storeyed build-
ing before, and they called it *a house above a house." Many
came to the conclusion that these very knowing foreigners
must also be worth listening to upon religious matters, and
so they joined the Church of Rome,

And Pero Paes converted the Emperor! His brother, Seela
Krestos, had already become a fervent Catholic when, in 1615,
Susenyos convened all the doctors of the Abyssinian Church
to defend their beliefs while the Jesuits expounded theirs.

An epic debate then took place, which continued for days.
As might have been expected, the learned foreigners had very
much the best of it. "These heretics,** explains Baltasar Teles,
Tiad never studied logic, nor were they versed in syllogisms,
enthymemas, and modes of argument, nor had they any
knowledge of the subtleties of scholastic theology." Not for
nothing had the European divines made a fine art of polemics!
When they turned their batteries upon the simple Ethiopian,
he could no more stand up to them than to the foreign cannon.

Annihilated though they were by syllogisms, enthymemas,
and the like, the Abyssinian priesthood remained uncon-
vinced. Not so the Emperor. He issued a decree ordering his
subjects forthwith to believe in the two natures Human and
Divine, each distinct from the other, united in the Person of
Our Lord.

The Abuna Simon had not been present at the debate. He
came rushing to the spot with loud protests, and the whole
discussion was renewed The result was identical. The Abuna,
like his fellows, was silenced but not persuaded, while the
Emperor, more convinced than ever, reissued his prodama-

206

Success

tion this time announcing death to be the penalty for those
refusing to agree with his religious views.

The priests of Abyssinia were all filled with horror and dis-
may. Wailing, they threw themselves at their Emperor's feet,
imploring him not to depart from the faith of his ancestors.
Susenyos refused to withdraw his proclamation, and sixty
monks of Damot threw themselves off a rock rather than vio-
late their conscience.

Abyssinia was shaken to its foundations- As alw r ays happens
when religious disputes rend a nation, beside the true faith
that makes martyrs political opportunism did not fail to ap-
pear. Yolyos, the Governor of Ogara, having quarrelled with
the Emperor, gathered round him a whole army of malcon-
tents who, blessed by the Abuna, swore to kill Susenyos. The
rebels were defeated, however. Yolyos and the Abuna both
were slain, and their heads displayed triumphantly on a
cushion in the Imperial tent.

On the strength of this victory the Emperor further scan-
dalized his subjects by ordering them to work upon the Jew-
ish Sabbath day. "I have not changed my religion," he ex-
plained to his court, "I have only improved it. I do not hold
my faith because it is that of the Portuguese, nor because it
is the faith of Rome, but because it is the true faith. And do
not deceive yourselves for this faith I am prepared to die if
necessary, but/* he added darkly, *all those who contradict it
will die first"

Here was a trumpet with no uncertain sound. Pero Paes
could be proud of his convert's zeal. The orthodoxy of Susen-
yos was beyond reproach, but, the chronicler observes regret-
fully, Tie was readier to defend it by the sword than to follow
it in his life.** It was a sore trial to his spiritual father that the
pious Emperor was a polygamist.

Even in this respect, however, Pero Paes got his way at last
In 1622 Susenyos sent for the priest, made a general confes-
sion of his whole life, and gave up all his wives except the first.
Then/* we are told, "Padre Pero Paes felt that his seven years'

207

The Land of Prester John

captivity in Arabia and the nineteen years that he had devoted
to this mission had not been spent in vain." And the veteran
missionary died happy a few months after that.

Susenyos's letter to the Provincial at Goa reads like a
lament;

The virtuous Reverend Padre Pero Paes was father of our soul,
bright sun of faith lighting the darkness of Ethiopia. Since our sun
has been eclipsed and set, our joy is turned to sadness, and our
happiness to mourning. If this paper were wide as the sky, and the
ink like the sea, it still would not suffice to write his virtues and his
teaching. The flowers that are scattered may not be picked again,
nor can we cause the passed day to return, nor gather up the water
that has been split

208

The Alternative Route

Padre Antonio Fernandas of Lisbon was a good man. He was
so good, Baltasar Teles says, that the Devil felt particularly
bitter about him. Finding it impossible to blacken Father An-
tonio's white soul, the foul fiend, in a fit of childish rage,
vented his spleen by fiinging black splotches all over the wall
of the father's cell in the College of Jesuits at Goa,

The marks were so dark and ugly and ineffaceable as to
leave no doubt of their infernal origin, but Father Antonio did
not allow the Evil One to triumph. Those blots, the priest de-
clared, were symbolic of the sin still marring his soul, and as
such would be useful reminders of his need for spiritual im- *
provement. The Devil, furious to find himself hoist with his
own petard, appeared to Father Antonio one day and gave
him a sound thrashing,

If Father Antonio's piety exposed him to the malice of the
powers below, it also won for him the favour of his guardian
angel, who delivered him miraculously from at least one pre-
dicament As the good man journeyed through Ethiopia he
came one day to a deep river. He could not wade across with-
out undressing, but Father Antonio was not alone, and his
natural modesty recoiled at the idea of appearing indecent to
the eyes of his companions. Yet he needed to cross that river.

On the horns of this dilemma Father Antonio appealed to

209

The Land of Prtster John

his guardian angel, who quite understood. Modesty, Baltasar
Teles would have us know, is a quality that angels appreciate.
Father Antonio was wafted suddenly across the water with-
out the embarrassing necessity of taking off his clothes! We
are not told if his companions enjoyed the same facility of
transport, or if they had to put the angel to the blush.

Father Antonio Fernandes was a thoroughgoing ascetic. His
clothes were entirely made up of patches, his hat was battered,
and his shoes were worn. He was a little man of frail physique,
so emaciated by the rigours of his fasts that Jie appeared to
have no body left. He had been an ornament to the Company
of Jesuits since he was seventeen, and he sailed for India in
1600, when he was thirty-one. Three years later he followed
Pero Paes into Ethiopia and there he lived and laboured for
nearly thirty years, preaching, teaching, and writing, correct-
ing and translating books of theology.

This was the man who volunteered to blaze a trail across
the unknown lands that stretched between Ethiopia and Ma-
lindi and proceed thence to India and to Rome, bearing let-
ters from the Emperor to the Pope.

When Susenyos first resolved to join the Roman Church, he
wrote to tell the Holy Father the glad news, and he also wished
to send his own ambassador to Rome. One Tecu Egzy, "a
1 serious person of great prudence and valour/* was selected for
the post, and a Jesuit priest was asked to go with him and be
his guide in European lands.

The only obstacles barring this pious purpose were the in-
convenient Turks of the Red Sea. Could not some other route
be found by which safer communications might be estab-
lished? We find this problem recurring at intervals through-
out the history of relations between Portugal and Prester John.
This time someone suggested Malindi as a possible way.

It was not a new idea. As far back as 1507 Tristao da Cunha
had landed Joao Gomes at Malindi as a starting-point from
which to travel to the land of Prester John. Joao Gomes had

210

The Alternative Route

failed to find the route, but now it was attempted from the
other end.

Everybody must have realized that the unknown dangers of
such a trial trip were likely to be quite as great as the very
well-known peril of the Turks, yet all the Jesuits volunteered
to take the Emperor's message partly, we are told, "because
they held it to be a holy errand, and also for the many perils
involved." These would be new perils, that was the attraction!
The spirit of devotion was no doubt the dominating motive in
the good fathers* lives, but we fancy that the spirit of adven-
ture came in somewhere too.

All therefore volunteered, but the great-hearted little Padre
Antonio Fernandes was the chosen man. He tied the precious
letters underneath his arm and, accompanied by ten Abyssin-
ian Portuguese who wanted to go too, he set out with the am-
bassador in March 1613. The Viceroy of Gojam, the Emperor's
brother Ras Seela Krestos, provided them with Gafla guides
and sent them on their way cheered by as edifying and pious
a farewell speech as might have been delivered by their own
Father Provincial. Seela Krestos seems to have been the lead-
ing light among the converts of the Jesuit mission.

Encouraged by this satisfactory pupil, Father Antonio trav-
elled with Tecu Egzy towards the wild and vaguely defined
outlying provinces of the Empire. They crossed the Blue Nile
where it bends towards the north, on rafts of hides guided by
native swimmers it took a whole day to get over with their
luggage and then they journeyed fifty leagues due south.

Enarea today is in the middle of Ethiopia, but at that time
it was a borderland. South of this realm the Emperor's rule
was felt no more, and to the east it vaguely trailed away across
the nominally vassal states of Janjeiro and Kambata until it
ceased to be in the wild welter of Moslem and heathen tribes
of Harrar and Somaliland.

The inhabitants of Enarea, black and handsome, poured
out of their huts when the strangers appeared. They bran-

211

The Land of Prestcr John

dished weapons in their hands and clamoured for a gift. For-
tunately they had not large ideas a few blocks of rock salt
and sundry caps made them quite happy, and before they
could call their friends to join die fun, a providential shower
of rain caused them to scatter while the travellers hurried on.

The Song of Enarea was polite but cold, though he, too,
thawed a little on receiving presents. The vicar of the local
church, however, scowled. He knew of Susenyos's leanings to-
wards Catholicism and fancied that Father Antonio had come
to relieve the vicar of Enarea of his functions. A tactful visit,
aided by a mellowing gift, caused him to view the situation
with more optimism, and he ceased from making trouble with
the King.

None the less the King of Enarea disapproved of the em-
bassy. As a tributary king he could say nothing, but he ob-
jected to his suzerain's coquetting with foreign powers and
with a foreign church. He told Father Antonio that he must
on no account leave Enarea except in an easterly direction.
Via Kambata and Bali was the right way.

Father Antonio knew quite well that this was wrong. It
would mean heading straight for Guardafui and never to Ma-
lindi, but still he was resolved to reach the coast, and if one
direction was closed to him, then he would take another.

He expressed his willingness to travel via Bali, much to the
King's delight. The embassy was so unlikely to get anywhere
that the King grew kind and helpful all at once. He speeded
Father Antonio on his way, and gave him fifty cruzados for
travelling expenses, with profuse apologies for having no more
to give.

The outskirts of the neighbouring realm of Janjeiro were
haunted by savage Galla tribes, the constant terror of more
civilized Ethiopia. Torrential rain on this occasion kept the
enemy from venturing out, while the travellers, soaked to the
skin, stepped briskly through the night across a dripping for-
est They rested at midnight under the shelter of gigantic
trees and ate a little of their scanty store of roasted barley be-

212

The Alternative Route

fore plunging down the mountain-side to a deep gorge. There
a long and narrow plank spanned the abyss above a swirling
torrent that foamed and boiled hundreds of feet below. The
frail bridge bent under the slightest weight, and creaked and
quivered like a willow wand, but from the peril of the savages
behind there was no other path to safety. The travellers passed
over one by one, but had to leave their mules.

The jet-black King of Janjeiro sat perched upon a platform
sixteen feet high. Every morning he rose before the sun, for,
said the men of Janjeiro, there could not be two suns above
the horizon. If his opposite number in the sky should steal a
march upon him, then the King of Janjeiro could not appear
that day.

The sombre Roi Soleil kept the envoys waiting a week, for
at the time that they arrived he was engaged in magic rites.
It was only when he had finished casting his spells that they
were granted an audience. He climbed down from his lofty
perch to take the Emperor's letter with proper respect, but
he conversed with Father Antonio at a distance, and from
above. It was a long and solemn interview, for each time a
phrase fell from the royal lips, the interpreter kissed his own
fingertips and then the ground before translating it.

His Majesty, although aloof, was gracious. He gave the
party various things that they required, and he also gave
Father Antonio a nasty shock by making him the present of
a fair slave girl Father Antonio, much dismayed, explained
that such a present would not do for him, whereupon the King
good-naturedly exchanged her for a boy slave and a mule.
Father Antonio promptly baptized the one and rode the other,
so everyone was happy.

After a pitched battle with armed robbers on the way, the
party readied the Kingdom of Kambata, and here it is that
first appears upon the scene the evil genius of the embassy, the
Abyssinian Manquer. The King of Kambata would have let
the travellers proceed if Manquer had not come and whis-
pered in his ear. Did the King suppose it was the Emperor wto

218

The Land of Prester John

had sent these men? Manquer knew better. They had left
Abyssinia secretly with a nefarious purpose. They were going
to send for the Portuguese to come from India with great
force, bringing bombards those terrible engines of destruc-
tion that killed from afar. Then Susenyos would lose his
throne, and all men would be obliged to change their faith.

The King of Kambata took fright and wrote to ask the Em-
peror what to do. Manquer arranged to have the messengers
detained for months upon the way and sent back to Kambata.
A second set of messengers were in due course dispatched,
but endless time had been wasted before the Emperor's an-
swer came.

Susenyos, although annoyed at the obstructions, could not
usefully threaten a vassal who lived so far away. He therefore
sent him gifts, urging him to help the travellers on their way.
The King of Kambata, mollified, allowed the envoys to pro-
ceed, and wrote to recommend them to the Moslem chieftain
Alico, who ruled the neighbouring land of Alaba. This was
really outside the Abyssinian Empire.

At ihfo? point half the Ethiopians of the embassy announced
that they were going home. They would never have started
on this journey had they known what it would be like. They
had endured enough already, and the future would be worse.
Kambata was the last Christian land upon the way; after that
all was Moslem and heathen to the shores of the Indian
Ocean. If they had faced death so many times within the Em-
jrire, what would it be beyond?

But the prudent and valorous Tecu Egzy was not so easily
deterred, and Father Antonio was not Portuguese for nothing.
His native tenacity alone was quite enough to hold him on,
besides which he felt that he was bound upon a holy errand.
That it was likely to prove a hopeless quest he already sus-
pected, BOW that he had samplecl the sort of countries that
Be would have to pass througjb. Like every Portuguese of his
generation, he had heard many true tales of shipwrecked men
on savage shores, and their struggles to cut across African

14

The Alternative Route

wilderness to civilization. How many bones had whitened in
the forest between Natal and Mozambique? His own mission
might well be swallowed up in the wastes of Somaliland. But
he would only turn back if he were forced to do so. Lost in
the immensity of unknown Africa, with nothing but bar-
barous lands before him eastward to the sea, and southward
to the Cape, Father Antonio said that he felt Tike an ant
crossing a wide and crowded field; and regardless of what is
around, intent only upon her duty, the little ant pursues her
way, bearing her load to carry to her larder. 9 * So this little
ant went on with the precious burden of the Empero/s let-
ters, into the land of Alaba, where ruled the Moslem Alico.

Father Antonio and Tecu Egzy had been recommended to
Alico and brought him presents but Manquer had written
first. Alico was pleased to take the gifts, but arrested the
givers. Most of their goods were confiscated, and their horses
and mules, while their luggage was searched for any com-
promising letters.

Father Antonio had his letters safe under his arm, but he
knew that their discovery would raise a hornets' nest. It is
true that they did not suggest exactly what Manquer insinu-
ated, but Susenyos did say that an armed force of Portuguese
would be very useful to him, both to help him against his
enemies and contribute to the conversion of his subjects. To
Moslems such as Alico it was all one whether the Ethiopians
were Catholics or Copts, but they did not wish to see armed
Portuguese about.

Father Antonio decided that his message would have to
be delivered orally, if he ever had occasion to deliver it at all
He might be searched again at any time, so the letters must
disappear. He had no kindling stone, so he pretended that he
wished to smoke, and asked his captors for a light not that
Father Antonio ever really smoked, Baltasar Teles hastens
to assure any reader who might be shocked, nor was the habit
widespread in Europe at the time.

The natives of Alaba, however, all smoked heavily, it seems,

215

The Land of Prester John

and they sympathetically supplied the prisoner with what he
asked for/ Father Antonio withdrew, ostensibly to enjoy a
quiet smoke, instead of which he burned the letters.

He never missed them. After toying with the idea for ten
days, Alico decided not to kill the travellers after all if they
would agree to discontinue their voyage. Nor would Alico
allow them to return the way they came, for fear that the
friendly Governor of Kambata might let them out of his coun-
try from the other side.

Thus Father Antonio and Tecu Egzy were brought to a
standstill half-way between the Nile and Guardafui They
travelled back through wild and desolate lands infested by
Gallas. Happily for them, one of their party had a friend who
was a chief among these savages, and they happened to meet
this man. For a consideration he agreed to take the party
under his protection, which just saved their lives, for the next
group of Gallas that they ran into proposed to kill them all and
sacrifice them to the gods.

After many such alarms among Moslems and heathen, they
reached a mountain stronghold an amba to the safety of
which they gladly withdrew. Father Antonio wrote to Susen-
yos for instructions and was summoned back to court. More
than fourteen months had been expended in this search for a
way out of Abyssinia that did not exist

The slippery Manquer also presented himself at court,

smiling and brisk. To his surprise he found the Emperor bent
on putting him to death. Manquer would have had short
if Father Antonio, who was a gentle soul, had not
id for his life. With "copious tears" M anquer was ban-
firom the land and went to join the Gallas, and so met
his fate. In his first raid in their company he broke his leg, and
seeing him helpless, the Gallas put hfrm out of his pain accord-
ing to their custom. As they had no knowledge of surgery, it
was perhaps the kindest thing to do.

We hear no more of the Malindi route. There was no get-
ting around the Turks and the Red Sea.

216

Rome versus Alexandria

Camel-drivers are Mohammed's colleagues, and that is why
he has bequeathed his wickedness to them. Such is the opin-
ion of Dom Afonso Mendes, Patriarch of Abyssinia.

Dom Afonso Mendes writes with feeling, after being bul-
lied systematically the whole way from the Red Sea coast into
Ethiopia. The fiendish camel-drivers would not start at all
without receiving their pay in advance, and then demanded
gifts at intervals along the way. "The more good that we did
to them, the worse they treated us. They made us supply
them with food, and be their cooks as well, insisting always
that their saucepan should be first on the fire, and if ever it
was late, they avenged themselves by refusing to go on that
day. We had to endure it all, not to risk having our baggage
abandoned in the desert.**

That desert in itself was bad enough without the camel-
drivers. "Where the way was not over loose sand, it was across
mountains of iron ore, the stones of which were like the cin-
ders of an oven, and so sharp that they wear out a pair of
shoes in one day.** As there were not sufficient camels for all
the party to ride, they had to walk by turns, and when the
shoes were all worn out, to put on native sandals, which
rubbed the skin off unaccustomed feet, leaving them raw and
bleeding. The heat was such that it melted

217

The Land of Prester John

the travellers carried in their writing-cases. The only shade
was that of thorn bushes, "which pricked more than re-
freshed." There was nothing but hard earth to sleep upon and
"brackish water that smelt very bad" to drink, and even that
failed during a hideous eighteen hours.

The last lap was over a salt desert that could only be
crossed by night "because by day the heat is enough to as-
phyxiate both travellers and their mounts, and shoe-leather
is blistered as if it had been cast upon live coals." No wonder
that, upon emerging from this inferno, the Patriarch ex-
claimed to his companions: "Let us thank God that we are in
Ethiopiar

As may be seen, there was not much to choose between this
route and Father Antonio's projected way out through
Malindi. It had the advantage, however, that it really was
a route and not a blind alley. Dom Afonso Mendes and his
companions had disembarked without much trouble, not at
Massawa but at Beilul, about two degrees farther south. The
ruler of this region, although Moslem, was at the time on
terms of peace and friendship with the Emperor of Ethiopia,
and so made no attempt to cut off heads.

The travellers* arrival was awaited impatiently by a num-
ber of people. Ever since his profession of faith, the Emperor
had been asking for a Patriarch consecrated by Rome, and
the Jesuits had insisted on the necessity in every letter. "All
is finished on our part for the good of this Empire," wrote
Francisco de Angelis in 1622., shortly before his death. "We
only ask for a Patriarch all cry out for a Patriarch, and if
we do not get one soon, our labour will be wasted!"

In consequence of such appeals, Father Afonso Mendes,
Doctor of Theology and Professor of Latin at Evora and
Coirabra, was consecrated at the age of forty-three for what
would be a very different field of labour.

The Patriarch's arrival at Fremona was a triumph, and Dom
Afonso was delighted with the place. This is not the Ethi-
opia that we imagined/* he wrote to his brethren at home,

218

Rome versus Alexandria

"but a land as fresh and good as Portugal, if not better!"
If the people were only more industrious, he goes on to say,
"they need lack nothing of the necessities, or even the lux-
uries, of life.**

If the climate and the country pleased the Patriarch, so also
did his flock. The Emperor received him with respectful joy;
so did, of course, that Catholic champion Ras Seela Krestos,
and other great ones imitated them. On February 17, 1626,
before the highest in the land, and all his court assembled,
Susenyos swore allegiance to the Church of Rome. All the
Imperial princes, the viceroys and lords, ecclesiastics, monks
and priests were made to repeat the same vow, while the
Patriarch fulminated excommunications against all those who
should break it. All the priests of the Abyssinian Church were
ordered to cease officiating until they had been presented to
the Patriarch, and as Ethiopian forms of ordination were a
little haphazard and vague, Dom Afonso Mendes proceeded
to reordain a number of the native clergy.

On his side the Emperor issued the usual proclamation
ordaining all his subjects to conform to the new ritual under
pain of death. "These solemn proclamations," says Baltasar
Teles, "drew the hearts of all Ethiopia to our holy f aith."

To the Jesuits this seemed like the battle won. The Em-
peror and his brothers had adhered to the Church of Rome,
and men of that age had no conception of a state that did
not follow the religion of its rulers. In every country at that
time we find the attitude the same. The government decided
what was sound religious truth, and coercive legislation drew
the subjects* hearts in the rigjht way. It would be unfair to
judge the Jesuits or the Emperor severely for the persecutions
that they instigated or the rebellions which subsequently
devastated the land. Religious liberty was an ideal that the
seventeenth century did not understand, and most people
would have thought it was a dangerous thing. Susenyos and
the directors of his conscience sincerely felt that they were
fighting for the truth and for the nation's goodL

219

The Land of Prcster John

But they had pitted their forces against something far too
strong. The missionaries* learning, their earnestness and de-
votion, their moral example influenced individuals with
whom they came into direct contact, but the heart of the
people was untouched. The Abyssinian Church was deeply
rooted in the past, and her traditions had been part of the
nation's life more than a thousand years. To talk about the
Pope's authority seemed to the Abyssinians pure imperti-
nence, their hierarchy had flourished independently in him
during so many centuries. That foreign priests should pro-
pose in his name to reordain her clergy and to rebaptize her
sons filled Ethiopia with bitterness and indignation. The
whole thing puzzled them the more that the two religions
were essentially the same. "We are all Christians," Baltasar
Teles says they argued, "both those of Rome and those of
Alexandria. We believe in Christ, and Christ will save us all.
There is not much difference between the two faiths, both
have their advantages and their drawbacks. Separating the
wheat from the tares, we have chosen the best, and by this
way we also shall be saved."

It is not to be wondered at if the well-intentioned efforts
of the Emperor and the Jesuits to Westernize the Abyssinian
Church resulted in confusion. There were a number of con-
versions some genuine and some feigned but discontent
grew daily.

Much trouble might have been avoided if the Patriarch
had had experience of the country to which he had been
called. As Father Antonio Fernandes wrote: "Experience of
this land is necessary, for if one would proceed without it, it
is to be feared that all may be turned inside out, and occasion
given for revolts and risings." * A newcomer, he goes on to
say, "is certain to think that he can shape things his own way
as it appeared to us when first we earner

These lines were penned before the Patriarch's arrival, and
the writer was not thinking about him, but his case proved
the truth. Dom Afonso Mendes, new to the country and full

Rome versus Alexandria

of zeal, did expect "to shape things his own way," and all at
once. A number of small concessions, involving no dogmatic
compromise, might have made the change less pain&il for
the people, but during his first years in Abyssinia the Patri-
arch was for wholesale reform. The feasts and fasts and rites
all had to be in strict accordance with the Latin Church.
It was only when he saw the hornets* nest that he was raising
that Dom Afonso Mendes realized that he had gone too fast.
He then agreed to the Emperor's request for restoring some
of the ancient customs "that were not against the substance
of f aith."

The Patriarch's concessions, however, were made too late.
The country was already in a ferment. Rebellions had always
been common in Ethiopia, and apart from the number of con-
sciences that were sincerely outraged, the religious question
placed a powerful tool in the hands of every disaffected chief.
The Emperor spent his days in quashing revolts throughout
the land. Matters reached a climax when the mountaineers of
Lasta slew the Viceroy of Tigre, who was a fervent Catholic.
Susenyos marched against them with a mighty army and put
them all to flight. The bloodshed was terrible, and though the
Catholic party won the day, the price of victory was their
own undoing. On every side the Emperor heard his weeping
subjects make the same complaint. TLook, Sire,"* they said,
"such thousands lolled! They are neither Moors nor heathen,
but your vassals, our flesh and blood, our kinsmen! How many
will you put to death? They cannot understand this faith of
Rome. Leave them, Sire, to the faith of their forefathersr

Such an appeal would melt a heart of stone, and Susenyos
was not a monster. He was only a sincere man who had done
what he thought was right, and the result perplexed him.
Since his people did not take kindly to the Church of Rome,
was he therefore to see his empire soaked in blood and torn
asunder? "Give us back the faith of our ancestors!" was the
cry that filled his ears, till he decided that he must give way.
It was reluctantly that he came to such a conclusion, and he

221

The Land of Prester John

was not happy about it. His own conversion to Rome appears
to have been genuine, and he felt that he was betraying the
truth.

"What is a sin against God cannot be for the good of the
kingdom," Father Manuel de Almeida gravely pointed out
to him. The greatest concession that the Emperor could make
conscientiously would be not to insist upon new conversions
for the time being. But, in the case of those who had already
joined the Roman Church "to these Your Highness cannot
say: 1 restore to you the faith of your forefathers/ To do so
would be a grievous sin, and I should sin were I to suffer or
advise it Besides," he added, "if a foreigner may be allowed
to express an opinion on the government of a strange country,
it seems to me that for Your Highness to grant such liberty
would be the certain ruin of your realms. It would be a cause
of division and civil war you for Rome, I for Alexandria!
What can result except strife, wounds, and death? That is
obvious Abuna for one, Patriarch for the other in fact
two kingdoms aad two kings!** T&us spoke the voice of sev-
enteenth-century Europe, where unity of religion was felt to
be essential to an ordered state.

The poor Emperor listened with drooping head and melan-
choly eyes. "What can I do?" he answered. "I have no king-
dom left!" He was thoroughly discouraged and depressed.
On June 24, 1632 the following proclamation was read to
the exulting mob:

Hear, Oh hear!

We first gave you this faith which we held to be good, but num-
berless people have died. . . . We therefore give you back your
fathers* faith. Let the former priests re-enter their churches and re-
place their Tabots. Let them say Masses, and all of you rejoice! "

This last injunction was quite unnecessary. The *sacri-
legiaus proclamation," as Baltasar Teles calls it, "which could

was received with a display of frenzied joy. Men, women,

222

Rome versus Alexandria

soldiers, priests, and monks behaved, the same writer says
bitterly, Tike wild beasts let out of prison/* To the Ethiopians
the boot was on the other leg:

The sheep of Ethiopia have escaped
From the hyenas of the West!

was the refrain that blithely rose from every field and village.
A general circumcision was performed, followed by a uni-
versal baptism according to their ancient custom. Thus the
people purified themselves from the errors of Rome, amid
which devotional exercises some of the baser sort were heard
to say: "In future we can marry and dissolve our marriages
as often as we choose," which speaks volumes for the mixed
motives of human nature!

Though the people cheered the Emperor that day, Susen-
yos was a broken man, regarded as a turncoat by both Cath-
olic and Copt. What he had done was against his conscience
and weighed on his mind. Shortly after, he fell ill of a low
wasting fever, caused by poison some people said, and the
Jesuits deemed it was the chastisement of God.

"Your Highness is nearing your end," the Emperor's con-
fessor, Father Diogo de Matos, informed him. "Remember
your soul and your eternal salvation, and declare the faith
in which you die."

"I die in the faith of Rome,** Susenyos said in a dear voice.
"And so I told my son."

The Emperor felt a little better presently, and his servants
tried to tempt his appetite with a dish of raw tripe. They suc-
ceeded too well. The invalid ate so heartily that in the night
he nearly died. A Galla physician, summoned to his side,
administered pills made of chalk dissolved in wine. These
formed a ball in his stomach,** writes Padre Manuel de Al-
meida, "and caused Tifm such pain that he died in a few
days.**

Susenyos's death was the beginning of the end for the Jesuit
mission in Abyssinia. The late Emperor's son, Fasiladas, was

223

The Land of Prester John

an ardent supporter of the national Church, and on his acces-
sion the pendulum of persecution swung the other way. The
Emperor's uncle, Ras Seela Krestos, an ardent Catholic, was
one of the first to feel the change. It must be owned that he
had asked for trouble. When, in Susenyos's lifetime, the Abys-
sinian nobles had sworn allegiance to Fasiladas as heir, Ras
Seela Krestos had expressed his oath in unambiguous terms:
"I swear the Prince to be his father's heir, and to obey him as
a loyal vassal so long as he may hold by, defend, and favour
the Catholic faith; should he do otherwise, I shall be his first
and greatest enemy."

Fasiladas had not forgotten this, and so began his reign by
confiscating his uncle's property and banishing him to a dis-
tant province. There the pious Seela Krestos had to stay for
twenty years in very straitened circumstances, which none
the less were not without some compensation. In his days of
affluence, it would appear, Has Seela Krestos had been crip-
pled with gout, whereas in the lean days of his later life his
health greatly improved!

The Jesuits, naturally, did not come off any better than Ras
Seek Krestos. They had established themselves in small com-
munities about the land, surrounded by the little groups of
their disciples. Imperial orders soon came to dislodge them,
beginning at Gorgorra, in Dembea, by Lake Tsana. This was
one of the most important of their centres, and the church
they had erected there was the pride of Ethiopia. *No one
had ever seen anything like that church," says the Abyssinian
chonicler. For fear that it might be profaned, the Jesuits sadly
dismantled it before they left Two things filled my eyes
with tears,* writes Father Manuel de Almeida. The first was
to help despoil the altars, and to leave such a beautiful and
sumptuous temple to be desecrated by the enemies of the
faith; and the second was to see the multitude of poor Portu-
guese who came to bid us good-bye, especially the widows
and orphans who got some help from our protection, and

224

Rome versus Alexandria

now with tears and cries that rose to heaven bewailed their
desolation."

For several years the Jesuits found themselves ordered
from pillar to post. From Gorgorra they had to withdraw to
Ganeta Jesu, to Colleta, into Tigre, until finally the intima-
tion came that they must leave the country altogether. The
Patriarch at first refused to go, but in the end he was obliged
to yield. Several letters were exchanged between him and the
Emperor over all this perfectly polite and dignified on
either side.

"I entreat Your Highness," wrote Dom Af onso Mendes, "for
God's sake, and for the truth, that Your Highness and you*
noblemen should inform me in writing the reason why you
uproot and banish me. Is it for preaching a false doctrine?
or else for scandalous sins in my life? Is iffor failing to fulfil
the duties of my pastoral office, for being proud and harsh
in punishment, or too careless and lax? Or is it for some
other cause?"

Fasiladas answered with equal restraint. He pointed out
that it was not he but his father who had sent for the Patri-
arch. He had acted throughout as an obedient son though
disagreeing with his parent's views. Fasiladas further recapit-
ulates the Ethiopians* several objections to the Church of
Rome, and assures the Patriarch that now that they have
reverted to the rites of their forefathers, nothing could induce
them to change a second time. T3ow could they return to
what they left and hated, having tasted once mere of their
first faith?"

It is natural that the Jesuit historian should see "abom-
inable blindness" in this letter, but where any Tiorrible mal-
ice 3 * comes in is not apparent.

A more acid note creeps into the correspondence at the last
Fasiladas did not mind rubbing in unpleasant truths. **What
does Your Lordship mean by saying: 1 have vowed not to
leave Ethiopia'?* asks the Emperor cuttingly. "Your Lordship

225

The Land of Prester John

is not leaving Ethiopia it is she who has left Your Lordship!
Your Lordship does not fly from her, she has fled from you,
as the coward flies from the sight of the battlefield." Earlier
in the same letter the Emperor refers to the expedition of
Dom Cristovao. "They did not preach nor teach the destruc-
tion of our ancient faith, handed down by the fathers and
Apostles. They did not oblige us to observe any religion
otner than our'own, which they defended and delivered from
the assassins and robbers which were the annies of the Moors.
They are worthy of great praise!"

This roused the Patriarch's wrath. *With what pen and ink
was such falseness written?" he exclaims. "Would the blessed
martyr Dom Cristovao have shed his blood upon the fields
of Ofla for the people of Ethiopia to keep the faith of Alex-
andria, which they had at first? Who could think of anything
so absurd?"

Dom Afonso Mendes wrote this on June 19, 1634, from

the Turks permitted them to get away. The Patriarch had
lived and worked in Abyssinia for eleven years, and some of
the Jesuits had been there twice that time. All were heart-
broken to leave the country and see the fruit of their labours
come to nothing.

We go [the Patriarch says], since we cannot do otherwise, but
as a mother cannot forget her child, nor a maid her attire, neither
can we forget the many sons that we have begotten to Christ, and
we know that if they could tear out their eyes and hearts to give
to us, they would!

We shall not cease by day or night to seek the welfare of their
souls, and pray the Faroer of all light to illumine the understand-
ing of Your Highness, to show you the truth and strengthen your
heart to follow it, that you may not be cast into the outer darkness,
and counted among the emperors who have persecuted the Catho-

Fasfladas, as it happened, had BO objection to being
counted among these. A long series of executions followed

226

Rome verms Alexandria

the expulsion of the Patriarch. The Emperor's brother
Claudius was one of the victims. Whether he really was a
Catholic is not quite certain, and it seems that he and Fasila-
das had fallen out on other matters besides the religious
question, which is no doubt why he liked to enrage the
Emperor by praising the Jesuits to the skies. Ah, these were
men! said he. Where could priests be found such as they
"continent, learned, prudent, careful, and always worldng
for the good of souls' 7 ? He waxed lyrical about the Patriarch
"so chaste and pure, a spiritual doctor, a honeycomb, a
queen bee!** Fasiladas grew tired of hearing the Patriarch de-
scribed in such language and silenced his brother in the end
by cutting off his head.

The late Emperor's secretary and chronicler, Azaje Tino,
fared even worse, for he was stoned to death. This little man
(Tino means small) made a stout-hearted martyr. **Who lacks
stones?'* he cried, stooping to pick up some of those that fell
in showers around him. Tlere is a stone, brother!** and he
handed them back to his executioners.

Ethiopians seem to have been wholehearted partisans
whichever side they took. A blind beggar who was a pillar
of the Catholic Church was much concerned for the salvation
of a local magnate's wife who was an equally ardent Alex-
andrian. The blind man "took it upon himself to convert her,
and persuade her to good works.** With this altruistic end in
view he did not fail to beg from her when she passed by. ITie
lady glanced suspiciously at his rosary. "Are you of the com-
munion of Alexandria,** she asked, "or that of the Portu-
guese?** The beggar told her frankly which was his religion.
He also told her, quite as frankly, what he thought about
hers. "All the devils are coming upon you!** he concluded
graphically.

"Then you are one of them!" the good woman retorted, and
she and her servants assaulted him and smashed his beads.
Such reaction to his missionary efforts did not damp the blind
man's interest in her spiritual welfare. He continued to call

227

The Land of Prester Jo/in

regularly at her house. "I am going to that devil/' he told
people pleasantly, "to see if I can do good to her soul."

"Here comes die blind devil!" the lady would cry out each
time that he appeared, and the two earnest Christians would
call each other names.

How it ended we do not know. The Father Francisco Ro-
drigues, who told the anecdote, did not live to relate what
happened next. He and about five other Jesuits had managed
to remain in Abyssinia. In constant hiding, these brave men
led hunted lives for several years, ministering secretly to
what was still left of their flock. One after another, each in
turn was caught and hanged, and so the Jesuit mission ended.

Not many of the missionaries survived, for of those who
left the country some fell victims to the Turks at Massawa
or Suakin. The Patriarch appeared likely to meet with such
a fate, but after a long and trying detention at Sualdn he was
at last released and did return to India, where he lived at Goa
to an advanced old age.

One Jesuit was dispatched to Europe and to Rome, where
he reported how the mission had collapsed. It was clear, sev-
eral people said, that the Abyssinians did not like the Portu-
guese, Send preachers of some other nationality who would
handle them with greater tact, and Ethiopia would be con-
verted.

Six French Capuchins started for Abyssinia on the strength
of this assumption. Two died on the way, and two turned
back. The last two entered Abyssinia and were stoned to
death.

'"Which plainly shows," observes Baltasar Teles, "that the
persecution of the Abyssinians is against the Catholic religion,
and not against the Portuguese.**

This was no doubt the truth.

228

The End of a Dream

So Portugal and Prester John parted for ever. The curtain
lifted for a season dropped again; Abyssinia wrapped herself
once more in isolation and obscurity. As a sleeper wakened
in the night resumes his sleep, so the mysterious mountain
empire sank back into oblivion for nearly three hundred
years,

It seems that when Ethiopia did awake at last, it was too
late. The world had been going on too long without her. A
more formidable foe than Ahmed Granye was at her gates,
and there was no young hero like Dom Cristovao to save her.
This survival of an earlier age was therefore swept away, and
the last to occupy the throne of Judah had to shoot his lions. 1

If the Jesuits had succeeded in their mission, Abyssinia
might have been Europeanized several centuries ago and the
history of the last f ew years might have been different Yet
that they should have been expelled was inevitable and natu-
ral, nor were the Abyssinians in the least to blame for it. Nei-
ther are the Jesuits to be reproached, except for that intoler-
ance which they shared with all their generation. They gave
the country of their best, only that best was not what the Ethi-
opians needed or desired.

This quest for Prester John is one of the blind alleys of his-
tory, for it does not seem to have led anywhere. Yet what enr

229

The Land of Prester John

thusiasm had gone into it! For a hundred years Portugal sought
Prester John. She saved him from the Turks after she found
him, and for nearly another hundred years tried to convert her
protege. What was the net result of so much effort?

The first five messengers died or disappeared. Four hundred
of the nation's finest manhood were lost for ever, and a band of
earnest missionaries threw away their lives upon a work that
had no continuity. We well may ask to what purpose this
waste. The nation gained absolutely nothing by it, and to
individuals the quest brought perpetual ex3e, wounds, or
death.

Yet we must remember that none of these pioneers went to
seek material profit. This is a strangely disinterested chapter
in the story of mankind. Neither Afonso de Paiva, who died
alone in Moslem lands, nor Pero da Covilham, who left his
home for ever, nor Duarte Galvao, dying on the island of Kam-
aran while gazing longingly across the burning waves of the
Red Sea towards the land of Prester John, nor Dom Cristovao
and his gay young volunteers, marching, as their elders
guessed, to certain death, nor the Jesuit fathers who faced
the Turkish scimitars and horrible captivity in nameless dun-
geons one of these men were striving after earthly treasure.
They were pursuing an ideal, a will-o'-the-wisp-like thing that
always ran before them.

When all is said and considered, in spite of the absurdities
and the mistakes that go with every human enterprise, this
age-long quest after the land of Prester John had something
in it of man's search for the Kingdom of Heaven. That was
really how it had begun in the mysticism of the early Middle
Ages, and the myth went through the various stages that
youthful illusions do go through before they die.

The realm of Prester John at first was earthly paradise, and
then it had no geographical boundaries. At a later date, when
the kingdom was localized and recognized to be no more than
human, its ruler was supposed to be the champion of harassed

230

The End of a Dream

Christendom the St. George who would slay the Moslem
dragon. The seekers went a little further and learned that it
was they who had to save St. George or he would be devoured
by the dragon! And when they rescued Prester John only to
find that he was not what they imagined, they simply set to
work once more and tried to make him what they thought he
ought to be. It seemed they had succeeded in the end, when
will-o'-the-wisp-like to the last the dream faded away.

So the quest of Prester John vanished into the limbo of the
world's lost causes. Yet perhaps because it was a movement
born of an ideal and the spirit, and in spite of all mutual mis-
understanding, it left vague memories in the legends of the
land as of a good thing that once came there from afar.

In 1860, travelling through the mountains of south-western
Abyssinia, two Italian Capuchins were told about a sacred
flag. This object of local veneration was carried in solemn pro-
cession once a year. It was a banner brought by the ancestor of
the tribal chief, who had been a stranger Christian from be-
yond the sea. One of the travellers managed to see the precious
relic. It was a flag of old Portugal the standard of the quinas.

Some twenty-five years later the Viennese Dr. Philip Paul-
itschke found the wild Galla tribes of Harrar worshipping a
sword. It once belonged to a great hero, he was told, who
came into the country long ago. The Austrian obtained pos-
session of the sacred weapon and found it was a sixteenth-cen-
tury Portuguese sword.

In this manner Dom Cristovao's men and their descendants,
lost to their country, lost to the world, and lost to history, live
in the vague traditions of an alien race.

As for die Jesuits, Moaflim Petros of the flaming beard per-
sonifies them all The Abyssinian people cast them off, but the
legend that remained is not unsympathetic. It has been said
that a legend is the spirit of history without the letter, and
this one suggests that beyond the barrier of misunderstand-
ing that human imperfection raises between man and man,

231

The Land of Prcster John

the Western priests had left behind a spark of something that
the people recognized and understood.

Moallim Petros [the strange story runs] cited authorities to con-
firm every statement that he made. The monks and priests, being
unable to confound him, rebelled and caused frim to be banished.

The most fervent of his disciples followed him to Massawa.
There, on the beach, they said: "We would go with thee, O our
Father! What matters it if thy ship cannot hold us all? Did not St.
Takla Haymanot extend his cloak over the waters and so travel to
Jerusalem? We have faith in God, and in His wondrous works. Do
thou entreat Him, and He will bid the sea to bear us all around thy
shipP

M oallim Petros prostrated himself with his face to the sand. He
shed tears and remained long in ecstasy. Then he arose and said
to his disciples: "Not so! You shall stay here. Without you the
furrows would close again." He stretched out his hands to heaven
and said: **O God, if I have taught the truth, make manifest the
injustice of my persecutors! If my mouth has propagated lies or
error, may this sea close over me, and let me be devoured by the
monsters "of the deep!"

He embarked upon the ship alone, saluted his disciples for the
last time, and pronounced these words: **My brothers, meditate
on the effect of the anointing that Our Lord Jesus Christ received
in the waters of Jordan."

And the ship sailed away. It was these last words that gave birth
to all the doubts, the troubles and endless disputes that divide the
people of Ethiopia still today.

MpaBim Petros's disciples remained* but the furrows he had
ploughed did close again.

Portugal has long ago forgotten Prester John, and Prester
John only remembers Portugal in legends which are like a
people's dreams. Lost among the mountains of that enigmatic
land are descendants of the wanderer Pero da Covilham, and
fee heroes of Dom Crist6vao da Gama's army black men
whose ancestors were brought up at Dom Manuel's gorgeous
court, whose earlier f oref athers were Gothic kings.

But these lost pioneers have left more than their blood be-

The End of a Dream

hind. Their sojourn in the land is also marked by stone memo-
rials. In the heart of Africa we still may find a concrete frag-
ment of old Portugal that has survived centuries of sun and
storm. There is something of the sadness of a vision that has
fled that haunts the crenellated towers of the ruins at Gondar.

23S

Notes

CHAPTER 1

1 Azuiza: Chronica d?El-Rei Dom Joao I, Parte HI, p. 63.

2 Diogo Gomes: RelagSo do descobrimento da Guine. (Published in Bulle-
tin of thejSociedade de Geografia de Lisboa, 1898. )

8 See "Do sigjlo national sobre os descobrimentos" by Jaime Ccrtesao, in
Lusitania, January 1924.

4 Castanheda: Historic, do Descobrimento e Conquista da India pelos POT-
tugueses. Liv. I, Cap. i.

CHAPTER 2

1 Caspar Correa.

2 Francisco Alvares: Verdadeira Informofao das terras do Preste Joao, p.
100,

* Ibid., p. 127.

* Caspar Correa: Lendas da India, m, p. 49.

CHAPTER S
1 Comentarios, Parte I, Cap. liv.

2 Cflrtos de Afonso. Com. Parte n, Cap. xftc. Correa: Lendas, n, p. 139.
De Albuquerque, I, p. 277.

8 Translations of this letter, with slight variations, are to be found in F.
AL^ares, Castanheda, and Damiao de Gois.

4 Cartas, I, p. 302.

Cartas.

Carto? de Afonso de Albuquerque, V, p. 412.

Ibid., I, p. 302.

s Ibid., VII, p. 194.

Ibid., VH, p. 67.

10 Lendas da India, It, p. 327.

11 See Lendas da India; also Cartas, L

xs Damiao de Gois: Gronica do Felicissimo Ret D. Emanael, p, 196.

235

Notts

CHAPTER 5

1 Cartes, III, p. 167.

CHAPTER 9

* ALvares Verd,, Inf., Cap. criii, p. 148.

2 Ibid., p. 1S7.

3 Castanhoso: Historic, Cap. vi

4 Gzrfcw, 1, p. SSO.

s This letter is published in Fr. Francisco de S. Luiz's notes to Andrade's
Vide de D. Joao de Castro, p. 442. Esteves Pereira also reproduces it among
the appendices to his edition of Castanhoso.

c See letters of D. Cristovao da Gama, published in Esteves Pereira's edi-
tion of Castanhoso.

7 Anonymous report dated from Goa, December 8, 1541, published in VoL
X of Return Mthiopicarum Scriptores Qcctdentales, edited by Beccari.

8 Diogo do Couto: Decada, V.

* Anonymous report. Caspar Correa calls him Antonio de Sousa.
Correa: Lendas, IV.

11 Diogo do Couto: Decada, V.

CHAPTER 10

1 Castro: Roteiro de Goa at& Soez, p. 246.

2 Correa: Lendas da India, IV.

CHAPTER 20
i Beccari, XII, p. 54,

CHAPTER 21

1 This was written before the outbreak of the present war. Since then de-
liverance has come to Abyssinia, and a new chapter, quite as exciting as any
of the pas^ has been written in the story of that strange k*-

236

PART!

Conquest of Ceuta, which marks the real beginning of Portugal's quest
for India and for Prester John, August 21, 1415.

Death of Infante Dom Henrique, who first started the quest, 1460.

Envoy from Benin arrives in Portugal and tells the tale of Ogan, 1486.

Bartolomeu Dias sailed to discover Cape of Good Hope, 1486.

Af onso de Paiva and Pero da Covilham set out for Ethiopia overland.
May 7, 148T.

Death of Af onso de Paiva at Cairo, ?

Pero da Covilham reached Abyssinia, 1492 or 1493.

Departure of Joao Comes, Joao Sanches, and Sid Mohammed for the
land of Prester John, April 5, 1506.

Arrival at Malindi, February or March 1507.

Picked up, still at Malindi, fay Francisco de Tavora, April 4, 1508.

Landed near Guardafui, April 18, 1508.

Arrived in Abyssinia, ?

Matthew dispatched with letter for Dom Manuel, 1510 (?)

Arrival at Dabul and imprisoned, November 1512.

Rescued and brought to Goa, December 1512.

Left Goa for Cannanore, before December 16, 1512.

Sailed from Cannanore for Portugal, 3rd or 4th week January 1513.

Arrived in Lisbon, February 24, 1514,

Sailed with Duarte Galvaos embassy, April 7, 1515.

Arrived at Goa, September 2, 1515.

Sailed with Lopo Scares for the Red Sea, February 1517.

Death of Duarte Galvio on Kamaran Island, June 9, 1517.

Matthew and Francisco Alvares arrived back in India, August or Sep-
tember 1517.

237

Chronology

Arrival of Diogo Lopes Sequeira as Governor, September 7, 1518.

Diogo Lopes sailed for Red Sea, taking Matthew and Francisco Alvares,
January 8, 1520.

Arrived at Massawa, April 7, 1520.

Meeting of Diogo Lopes and Bahr Nagach, April 17, 1520.

Instructions issued by Dom Rodrigo de Lima as ambassador to Prester
John, April 25, 1520.

Departure of embassy, April 30, 1520.

Death of Matthew at Bizan, May 23, 1520.

Arrival of embassy at Debaroa, June 28, 1520.

Entered province of Tigre, July 29, 1520.

Met Saga Zaab, August 1520.

Entertained by Ras of Angote, September 14, 1520.

Arrived at Emperor's camp, October 10, 1520.

Received at court, October 20, 1520.

Personal interview with the Emperor, November 19, 1520.

First dispatch of embassy, February 1521.

Returned to court, April 1521.

Arrival of letters from Dom Luiz de Menezes with news of Dom Man-
uel's death, April 15, 1523.

Sailed at last from Massawa, taking Saga Zaab as ambassador to Portu-
gal, April 28, 1526.

Arrived at Goa, November 25, 1526.

Sailed from Cannanore for Portugal, January 4, 1527.

Arrived in Lisbon, July 24, 1527.

PART II

Invasion of Ethiopia by Ahmed Grany6, 1527.

Father Francisco Alvares was sent to Rome, September 1531.

Dom Joao Bermudez appointed Patriarch and sent to Europe, 1535.

Arrived in Lisbon (probably), 1537.

Viceroy Dom Garcia de Noronha sailed for India, 1538.

Dom JoSo Bennudez sailed, 1539.

Dom Garcia died at Cochin, 1540.

Dom Estevao da Gama succeeded him as Governor and sailed for the

Red Sea, 1541.

Fleet arrived at Massawa, February 16, 1541.
Returned to Massawa from Suez, May 22, 1541.
Departure of Dom Crist6vao da Gama's expedition, June 9, 1541.
Arrival at Debaroa, June 18, 1541.

Departure from Debaroa with Queen, December 15, 1541.
Capture of Amba Sanayt, February 2, 1542.
Arrival of letters from Massawa, end of February 1542.

238

Chronology

First battle with Granye*, April 4, 1542.

Second battle with Granye, April 16, 1542.

Capture of Simen mountains, August 1542.

Dom Crist6vao's last battle, August 28, 1542.

Arrival of Emperor Galawdewos, September or October 1542.

Emperor's army marched, February 6, 1543.

Defeat and death of Granye*, February 22, 1543.

Castanhoso decided to leave Abyssinia after Christmas 1543.

Sailed from Massawa, February 16, 1544.

Arrived in India, April 19, 1544.

PART IE

Letter of Dom Joao III to Galawdewos, promising to send him a new
and better Patriarch, March 13, 1546.

Arrival of Padre Goncalo Rodrigues in Abyssinia to prepare the sround
May 16, 1555.

Patriarch Dom Joao Nunes Barreto arrived at Goa with Bishop Dom
Andre de Oviedo, September 13, 1556.

Bishop arrived in Ethiopia, March 25, 1557.

Death of Galawdewos, May 23, 1559.

Brother Fulgencio Freire attempts to reach Ethiopia, 1560.

Rebellion of Bahr Nagach, 1561.

Andre Gualdames killed by Turks at Massawa, 1562.

Death of Patriarch at Goa, 1562.

Death of Dom JoSo Bermudez in Lisbon, 1570.

Death of Dom Andre de Oviedo at Fremona, 1577.

Departure of Fathers Antonio de Monserrate and Pero Paes for Abys-
sinia, February 3, 1588.

Captured by Arabs off Dofar, February 14, 1589.

Left King Omar's realm, June 27, 1589.

Reached Sana, in Yemen, July 1589.

Transferred to Turkish galley at Mocha, 1594.

Ransomed and returned to India, 1595.

Departure and death of Father Abraham de Georgis, 1595.

Death of last Jesuit left in Abyssinia, 1597.

New departure of Pero Paes for Abyssinia, March 22, 1603.

Arrived at Massawa, April 26, 1603.

Reached Fremona, May 15, 1603.

Emperor Za Danguil wrote to the Kong of Portugal, June 26, 1604.

Arrival of Fathers Antonio Fernandes and Francisco Antonio de Angelis*
July 13, 1604.

Arrival of Fathers Luiz de Azevedo and Lourencp Romano, July 6, 1605.

Accession of Emperor Susenyos, 1605.

239

Chronology

Conversion of Susenyos s brother, Ras Seek Krestos, 1610.

Father Antonio Fernandes goes to seek Malindi route, March 1613.

Returned to Abyssinian court, September 1614.

Theological debate which convinced the Emperor, 1615.

Arrival of Fathers Diogo de Matos and Antonio Bruno, June 11, 1620,

Complete conversion of Emperor, beginning of 1622.

Death of Father Pero Paes, May 23, 1622.

Nomination of Patriarch Dom Afonso Mendes, July 1622.

Death of Father Francisco Antonio de Angelis, October 21, 1622.

Arrival of Fathers Manuel Barradas, Luiz Cardeira, Francisco de Car-

valho, and Manuel de Almeida, 1623.
Arrival of Patriarch at Goa, May 28, 1624.

Arrival in Ethiopia accompanied by six other Jesuits, June 21, 1625.
Emperor's public submission to die Church of Rome, February 11,

1626.

Revolutions and unrest, 1628-32.
Battle against rebels of Lasta, followed by restoration of national church,

June 1632.

Death of Susenyos, September 1632.
Expulsion of Jesuits, 1634.

240

Bibliography

(Dates given are those of earliest and last editions)

PART I

AFONSO DE ALBUQUERQUE: Cartes seguidas de documentos que as elutir

dean, 7 vols. (Published by Academia das Ciencias de Lisboa,

1884-1935.) Documents with reference to Prester John are to be

found in every volume of this series.
Alguns Documentos do Archivo National da Torre do Torribo. (Lisboa,

1892.)

BRAZ DE ALBUQUERQUE: Comentarios do Grande Afonso de Albu-
querque. (Lisboa, 1557. Coimbra, 1923.)
Carta das novis que vieram a el Eey Nosso Senhor do Descobrimento do

Preste lohm. (Lisboa, 1521. London, British Museum, 1938.)
CASTANHEDA: Historia do Descobrimento e Conquista da India pelos

Portugueses, I, II, in, IV. { Lisboa, 1551. Coimbra, 1924.)
DAMIAO DE Gois: Cronica do Felicissimo Eel D. EmanueL (Lisboa,

1566. Coimbra, 1923.)
: Legatio magni indorum imperatoris Presbyteri Joannit ad Emanu-

elem Lusitaniae Regem. Anno Domini MDXIII. (Antwerp, 15S2.)
: Fkfes, religfo, moresque jEthiopum sub Imperto Preciosi Joannit.

(Louvain, 1540.)
Documentos Arabicos para a historia p&rtugueza copiadof doa origmaes

da Torre do Jornbo e vertidos em portugues par JoSo de Sauza.

(Lisboa, 1720.)
FRANCISOO ALVARES: Verdodeha Informagao das Terras do Preste Joao

das Indus. (Lisboa, 1540, and 1889.)
GASPAK CORBBA: Lendas da India, II, HE, IV. Written between 1512

241

Bibliography

and 1561. (Published, Lisbon, 1858-66. Reprinted, Coimbra,
1924.)

JOAO I>E BABROS: Decadas da Asia, I, II. (Lisboa, 1552. Last complete
edition, 1778.)

PART II

MIGUEL DE CASTANHOSO: Historic das cousas que o muy esforcado
capitao D. Christovdo da Gama fez nos Reynos do Preste Joao
(Losboa, 1564.) An edition in modernized spelling has been
brought out by A. C. Pires de Lima (Porto, 1936). Another ver-
sion taken from a manuscript in the Biblioteca da Ajuda was pub-
lished by Esteves Pereira (Lisboa, 1896), entitled: Dos Feitos de
D. Christovao da Gama, tratado composto por Miguel de Costa-
nhoso. This edition has very useful notes and appendices.

DOM JOAO BERMUDEZ: Breve Relation de embaxada que o Patriarcha do
Joao Bermudcz trouxe do Emperador de Ethiopia, vulgarmente
ckamada Prestc Jodo. (Lisboa, 1565. Reprinted, 1844.)

CASPAR CORREA: Lcndas da India, IV.

DIOGO DO COUTO: Decadas, V, \1. (Lisboa, 1602, 1778.)

DOM JOAO DE CASTRO: Roteiro de Goa a Suez.

An account of Dom Crist6vao da Gama's expedition is also to be
found in the History of Ethiopia by Pero Paes, and Baltasar Teles repro-
duces it in his Historia de Etiopia a A/to. He says that Pero Paes heard it
from the sons of the survivors of the famous expedition. Paes's narrative,
however, is no more than a paraphrase of that of Miguel de Castanhoso,
as are also the accounts given by Diogo do Couto and Caspar Correa.
Castanhoso and Bermudez are the only eyewitnesses who have recorded
their experiences almost the only ones who ever got away to tell the
tale and between the incoherent self-glorification of the pseudo-
patriarch and Castanhoso's modest and straightforward narrative it is
impossible to hesitate. Castanhoso's account has, moreover, the ad-
vantage of having been written immediately after the events that it de-
scribes. Caspar Correa, who met him in India in 1544, says that he
brought the manuscript with him. Correa's own story must have been
the next one to be written. He reproduces Castanhoso almost word for
word, and any extra details that he puts in cannot have been derived
from any other source, since no one else had yet returned from Abyssinia.

Diogo do Couto does no more than repeat Castanhoso with a few
additions that he may have heard from a certain Diogo Dias, one of Dom
CristovSo's old companions, who reached India after many years. Diogo
do Couto knew this man, and says that he vouched for the accuracy of
Castanhoso's book.

242

Bibliography

That is more than anybody has ventured to do for Dom Joao Bermu-
dez's rather confused narrative, written twenty years after the events.
The clearest impression that it leaves the reader is what a fine fellow
Joao Bermudez felt himself to be. Dom Cristovao da Gama that very
capable young man, who had been commanding ships and handling
men five or six years before he met Joao Bermudez is represented as
an irresponsible boy entrusted by his brother to the Patriarch's care;
and it is the ex-physician and improvised priest who teaches Vasco da
Gama's son how battles should be fought!

PABT HI

BAI/TASAR TELES: Historia de Etiopia a Alta. Coimbra, 1660.

A valuable compilation which incorporates large portions of Almeida
and Paes, as well as a number of contemporary letters. An abridged edi-
tion has been published by A. de Magalhais Basto. Porto, 1936.
Cronica de Susenyos. Translated by Esteves Pereira. Lisbon, 1900. This

work has especially valuable notes.
DAMIAO DE GDIS: Fides, relizio* moresque JEfhiopwn sub impeiio

Pretori Joannis. Louvain, 1540. Coimbra, 1741.
DIOGO DO Couro: Decodes, VI, VII.
Rerum Mthiopicarum Scriptores Occidental's inediti a sseculte XVI ad

XIX. 16 vols. Published by Beccari, Rome, 1903-15.
This monumental series includes the histories of Manuel de Almeida
and Pero Paes, the works of Manuel Barrades and Afonso Mendes, be-
sides most of the correspondence of the Jesuits.

Two very useful modern works embracing the whole period are:
Conde de Ficalho: Viagens de Pero da Covftham. Lisbon, 1896.
C. F. Hey: Romance of the Portuguese m Abyssinia. London, 1929.

English translations of the narratives of Francisco Alvares Casta-
nhoso and Bermudez have been made by the Hakluyt Society, as also of
the Commentaries of Bras de Albuquerque. I have not made use of any
of these, however, and the translations that are given here are mine.
Living, as I do, in Portugal, I have had no opportunity to see the Eng-
glish editions of these books.

243

A NOTE ON THE TYPE
The text of this book has been set in Caledonia*
a Linotype face designed by W. A. JDitriggins.
Caledonia belongs to the family of printing
types catted "modern" by printers a term
used to mark the change in style of types thai
occurred about the year 18OO. Caledonia bor-
ders on the general design of Scotch Modern,,
but is more freely dratun than that letter-

The book u>as compared, printed, and bound
by The Plimpton Press, Norwood, Massachu-
setts.

HERJB is the story of Prester John, the !eg-
endary ruler of an undiscovered country of
tbe Far JBast, a region as strangely fascinat-
ing to tbe Europeans of that day as tbe
mountains of the moon and as over a
century of exploration was to prove
oearly as inaccessible. Here too is the whole
history of the relarionsJhip between Portu-
gal and Ethiopia from the arrival in 1442
of the first Portuguese to venture into the
territory to the expulsion in 1634 of the
Portuguese Jesuits.

It was not until late in the fifteenth cen-
tury that Prester John passed from the
realm of legend to assume tremendous
stature as a potential ally against the
heathen, and the lost kingdom, the strong-
hold of the Abyssinian ISfegus, was found
to have its roots not in Asia but in Africa.

The chronicling of this period has been
highlighted by fabulous rales - of a glam-
orous queen marooned in a. mountain fort-
ress approachable only by means of a
pulley basket; of magnificent battle actions
replete with sword dashings and the roar
of the arcjuebusiers, of a lofty hermitage
inhabited only by mummies. But, more

rhi.s it is a revealing story of socteenth-
century Jesuitism, of soldiers and priests
tireless in tfogir efforts to Christianize the

Ethiopians according to the precepts of the
Church erf Rome, defeated by the peculiarly"
stubborn Abyssinian brand of Catholicism.
Drawing for her source material upon
the wealth of contemporary record, fixe
author has created a rich and colorful pic-
ture of an extraordinary era of European
exploration and missionary endeavor
one worthy of comparison with Alarco
Polo's account of his famous I ourner.